Information processing device, information processing method, image acquisition method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

ABSTRACT

An information processing device is configured to perform an operation of a delivery service in which an inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility used by a user is designated as a delivery destination of a package, or perform a support of the operation. The information processing device includes an information acquisition unit configured to acquire information on an accommodation situation of an object accommodated inside the vehicle, the building, or the facility, and an accommodation situation notification unit configured to notify the user of the accommodation situation based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/219,491, filed Dec. 13, 2018, which claims the disclosure of JapanesePatent Application No. 2017-241020 filed on Dec. 15, 2017, thespecification, drawings and abstract are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to an information processing device, aninformation processing method, an image acquisition method, and anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program.

2. Description of Related Art

For example, a mechanism that uses a vehicle cabin of a vehicle, forexample a trunk, as a delivery destination of a package is disclosed(see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-206225(JP 2006-206225 A) or the like).

Specifically, authentication information (key information) for unlockinga vehicle is distributed to a delivery company (for example, a mobileterminal carried by a deliverer). When a predetermined transmissionsignal including the key information is transmitted from the mobileterminal carried by the deliverer to the vehicle, and thenauthentication is successful on a vehicle side based on the keyinformation included in the transmission signal, a door that allowsaccess to a trunk of the vehicle (for example, a trunk lid or abackdoor) is unlocked. Accordingly, the deliverer can accommodate thepackage in the trunk. Accordingly, the delivery company can provide acustomer with a delivery service in which a vehicle cabin such as thetrunk of the vehicle can be designated as the delivery destination(hereinafter referred to as a “vehicle cabin delivery service”).Similarly, it is also possible to provide a delivery service that candesignate an inside of a building or a facility such as a home or asecond home (the second home privately owned or rental), which is usedby a user and can be locked and unlocked, as the delivery destination.

SUMMARY

However, without a visual check, it is usually not possible for the userto check an accommodation situation of an object accommodated on theinside of the vehicle, the building, or the facility (hereinafter,referred to as a “vehicle or the like” for the convenience) designatedas the delivery destination of the package. For this reason, withoutbeing noticed, an accommodation capacity limit may be reached by aplurality of delivered package, user's objects usually remaining on theinside of the vehicle, or the like, such that delivery of an additionalpackage is not possible, for example. Further, for example, when a doorof the vehicle or the like is unlocked using a mobile terminal carriedby the deliverer and the package is delivered to the inside of thevehicle or the like, it may not be possible for the user to graspwhether or not the package has been actually delivered since the userdoes not actually receive the package. Therefore, it is desirable forthe user to grasp the accommodation situation of the object accommodatedon the inside of the vehicle or the like designated as the deliverydestination of the package.

The disclosure provides an information processing device, informationprocessing method, an image acquisition method, and a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing a program that make it possiblefor a user to grasp an accommodation situation of an object accommodatedon an inside of a vehicle or the like which is a delivery destination ofa package, in a delivery service in which the inside of the vehicle orthe like used by the user is designated as the delivery destination ofthe package.

A first aspect of the disclosure relates to the information processingdevice configured to perform an operation of a delivery service in whichan inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility used by a user isdesignated as a delivery destination of a package, or perform a supportof the operation. The information processing device includes aninformation acquisition unit configured to acquire information on anaccommodation situation of an object accommodated inside the vehicle,the building, or the facility, and an accommodation situationnotification unit configured to notify the user of the accommodationsituation based on the information acquired by the informationacquisition unit.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can notify the user of the accommodation situation ofthe object accommodated inside the vehicle or the like, based on theinformation on the accommodation situation of the object accommodated onthe inside of the vehicle or the like which is the delivery destinationof acquired package. Therefore, the information processing device canmake the user grasp the accommodation situation of the objectaccommodated on the inside of the vehicle or the like which is thedelivery destination of the package.

In the information processing device according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the information acquisition unit may be configured toacquire a capture image of the inside captured at a time of delivery ofthe package from a mobile terminal that is carried by a deliverer of thepackage and is equipped with an imaging function, and the accommodationsituation notification unit may be configured to provide a notificationof the capture image to a user's predetermined terminal, a user's emailaddress, or a user's predetermined social networking service account.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device provides the notification (transmission) of theacquired capture image inside the vehicle or the like captured by themobile terminal of the deliverer at the time of the delivery of thepackage to the user's terminal or the like, and thus it is possible tomake the user specifically grasp the accommodation situation of theobject accommodated inside the vehicle or the like. Therefore, theinformation processing device can make the user grasp whether thepackage scheduled to be delivered is in a deliverable situation, or thepackage is actually delivered or the like, by the capture image at thetime of the delivery, for example.

The information processing device according to the first aspect of thedisclosure may further include a delivery completion notification unitconfigured to provide a notification of a delivery completion of thepackage to the predetermined terminal, the email address, or theaccount, when the capture image is acquired.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can recognize the delivery completion of the packageby acquiring the capture image inside the vehicle or the like capturedby the mobile terminal of the deliverer at the time of the delivery.Therefore, for example, the deliverer does not need to performadditional work of providing the notification of merely the deliverycompletion from the mobile terminal to the information processing deviceor the like, on top of the work of capturing the image inside thevehicle or the like at the time of the delivery completion. Therefore,the information processing device can notify the user of the deliverycompletion while reducing work burden on the deliverer at the time ofthe delivery.

The information processing device according to the first aspect of thedisclosure may further include an accommodation amount determinationunit configured to determine whether or not an accommodation amount ofthe object accommodated inside exceeds a predetermined criterion basedon the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. Theaccommodation situation notification unit may be configured to provide anotification of a determination result to a user's predeterminedterminal, a user's email address, or a user's predetermined socialnetworking service account, when the accommodation amount determinationunit determines that the accommodation amount exceeds the predeterminedcriterion.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, when the accommodationamount of the object accommodated on the inside of the vehicle or thelike as the delivery destination of the package exceeds thepredetermined criterion such that the accommodation of an additionalpackage is difficult, for example, the information processing device cannotify the user of the determination result. Therefore, the informationprocessing device can make the user grasp whether the package scheduledto be delivered is in the deliverable situation or the like, dependingon a presence or absence of the notification, for example.

The information processing device according to the first aspect of thedisclosure may further include a delivery work procedure change unitconfigured to provide a notification, when the accommodation amountdetermination unit determines that the accommodation amount exceeds apredetermined criterion, to a user's predetermined terminal, a user'semail address, or a user's predetermined social networking serviceaccount such that at least a procedure change regarding a delivery workof the package is requested to a delivery service company, the changeincluding a temporary suspension of the delivery work of the package yetto be delivered, a redelivery of the package yet to be delivered at adate and time different from a date and time currently set, and a changeof the delivery destination of the package yet to be delivered.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, when the accommodationamount of the object accommodated on the inside of the vehicle or thelike as the delivery destination of the package exceeds thepredetermined criterion such that the accommodation of the additionalpackage is difficult, for example, the information processing device canmake the user request the procedure change regarding the delivery workof the package such as the temporary suspension of the delivery work ofthe package or the like to the delivery company. Therefore, theinformation processing device makes it less likely for the deliverer tohead for the vehicle or the like, in a situation where the packagecannot be accommodated inside the vehicle or the like. Therefore, evenin the situation where the additional package cannot be delivered to theinside of the vehicle or the like designated as the delivery destinationof the package, the information processing device can improve anefficiency of the delivery work.

In the information processing device according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the delivery work procedure change unit may beconfigured to cause a display device of the predetermined terminal todisplay a website for the procedure change or a window of an applicationprogram which links to the website and is installed in the predeterminedterminal, by the notification to the predetermined terminal.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can cause the user's terminal (for example, asmartphone or the like) to display the website for the procedure changeregarding the delivery work of the package such as the temporarysuspension of the delivery work of the package on a predeterminedbrowser. Further, the information processing device can activate theapplication capable of a manipulation of changing the procedure andcause the user's terminal to display the window for a specific changemanipulation (including a screen exclusively displayed on the display ofthe smartphone). Therefore, the information processing device can makethe user specifically request the procedure change regarding thedelivery work of the package to the delivery company.

In the information processing device according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the delivery work procedure change unit may beconfigured to provide, to the email address or the account, anotification including link information for causing a display device ofa terminal in use which is used by the user to display a website for theprocedure change or a window of an application program which links tothe website and is installed in the terminal in use.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can cause the website for the procedure changeregarding the delivery work of the package such as the temporarysuspension of the delivery work of the package to be displayed on thepredetermined browser, on the user's terminal in use (a computerterminal such as a tablet terminal type or a laptop type). Further, theinformation processing device can activate the application capable ofchanging the procedure and cause the user's terminal in use to displaythe window for the specific change manipulation. Therefore, theinformation processing device can make the user specifically request theprocedure change regarding the delivery work of the package to thedelivery company.

In the information processing device according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the delivery work procedure change unit may beconfigured to provide, to the predetermined terminal, the email address,or the account, a notification including information specifying allpackages yet to be delivered, for which the inside of the vehicle, thebuilding, or the facility is designated as the delivery destination.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can make the user request the procedure changeregarding the delivery work of the package to the delivery company withrespect to all the packages scheduled to be delivered, for which theinside of the vehicle or the like is designated as the deliverydestination, without being limited to a specified package.

In the information processing device according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the information acquisition unit may be configured toacquire, from a mobile terminal that is carried by a deliverer of thepackage and is equipped with an imaging function, a capture image of theinside of the vehicle, the building, or the facility captured at thetime of delivery of the package, or detection information on theaccommodation amount output from a sensor provided inside the vehicle,the building, or the facility.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can specifically grasp the accommodation amount of theobject accommodated inside the vehicle or the like from the captureimage of the inside of the vehicle or the like captured by the mobileterminal of the deliverer at the time of the delivery of the package, orthe detection information output from the sensor provided inside thevehicle or the like (for example, a camera).

In the information processing device according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the information acquisition unit may be configured toacquire information on a request history of the package requested withthe inside of the vehicle, the building, or the facility as the deliverydestination.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can estimate the accommodation amount of the objectcurrently accommodated inside the vehicle or the like, from a requestfrequency in a latest predetermined period, for example. Therefore, theinformation processing device can specifically grasp the accommodationamount of the object accommodated inside the vehicle or the like, basedon the request history of the package requested with the inside of thevehicle or the like as the delivery destination.

In the information processing device according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the information acquisition unit may be configured toacquire information on a user's opening history of a door that allowsaccess to the inside of the vehicle, the building, or the facility.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, the informationprocessing device can estimate the accommodation amount of the objectcurrently accommodated inside the vehicle or the like, by grasping ofthe number of the delivered package or the like after a user's finalopening of the door that allows the access to the inside of the vehicleor the like based on the request history of the package in the latestpredetermined period, and the user's opening history of the door thatallows the access to the inside of the vehicle or the like, for example.Further, the information processing device can take account of a packagewhich is assumed to have been taken out from the inside of the vehicleor the like by the user. Therefore, the information processing devicecan grasp the accommodation amount of the object accommodated inside thevehicle or the like in a specific and more precise manner, based on auser's unlocking history of the door that allows the access to theinside of the vehicle or the like in addition to the request history ofthe package requested with the inside of the vehicle or the like as thedelivery destination.

A second aspect of the disclosure relates to the information processingmethod executed by an information processing device configured toperform an operation of a delivery service in which an inside of avehicle, a building, or a facility used by a user is designated as adelivery destination of a package, or perform a support of theoperation. The information processing method includes acquiringinformation on an accommodation situation of an object accommodatedinside the vehicle, the building, or the facility, and notifying theuser of the accommodation situation based on the information acquired bythe information acquisition.

A third aspect of the disclosure relates to the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing an information processingprogram causing an information processing device to execute a process,the information processing device being configured to perform anoperation of a delivery service in which an inside of a vehicle, abuilding, or a facility used by a user is designated as a deliverydestination of a package, or perform a support of the operation. Theprocess includes acquiring information on an accommodation situation ofan object accommodated inside the vehicle, the building, or thefacility, and notifying the user of the accommodation situation based onthe information acquired by the acquiring information.

A fourth aspect of the disclosure relates to the image acquisitionmethod executed by a mobile terminal that is equipped with an imagingfunction and is carried by a deliverer of a company that operates adelivery service in which an inside of a vehicle, a building, or afacility used by a user is designated as a delivery destination of apackage. The image acquisition method includes imaging the inside of thevehicle, the building, or the facility by the deliverer using theimaging function at a time of delivery of the package, and transmitting,to a predetermined external device, a capture image inside the vehicle,the building, or the facility captured by the imaging.

According to the fourth aspect of the disclosure, the image acquisitionmethod can cause the mobile terminal to capture the image of the insideof the vehicle or the like and, for example, to transmit the image tothe server of the delivery company or a server of a support company thatsupports the operation of the delivery service such as distributing thekey information for unlocking the vehicle or the like. Therefore, thedelivery company, the support company, or the like can provide the userwith the image inside the vehicle or the like at the time of thedelivery. Therefore, the image acquisition method can make the usergrasp the accommodation situation of the object accommodated on theinside of the vehicle or the like which is the delivery destination ofthe package, via the server or the like of the delivery company or thesupport company.

In the image acquisition method according to the fourth aspect of thedisclosure, the capture image may be transmitted to the external devicethat manages information on the vehicle, the building, or the facilityby the transmitting.

According to the fourth aspect of the disclosure, the image acquisitionmethod can cause the mobile terminal, for example, to transmit thecapture image inside the vehicle or the like to the external device thatmanages the information on the vehicle or the like such as the keyinformation for the delivery company to unlock the vehicle or the likeat the time of the delivery, that is, the external device operated bythe support company. Therefore, the image acquisition method can avoid asituation where the image of the inside of the vehicle or the like whichis a user's private space is provided to the delivery company.Therefore, the image acquisition method can make the user grasp theaccommodation situation of the object accommodated on the inside of thevehicle or the like which is the delivery destination of the packagewhile paying attention to the user's privacy.

The image acquisition method according to the fourth aspect of thedisclosure may further include deleting the capture image in the mobileterminal, when the capture image has been transmitted to the externaldevice by the transmitting.

According to the fourth aspect of the disclosure, the image acquisitionmethod can cause the mobile terminal to delete the image inside thevehicle or the like transmitted to the external device. Therefore, theimage acquisition method can avoid a situation where the image of theinside the vehicle or the like which is the user's private space remainsin the mobile terminal of the deliverer. Therefore, the imageacquisition method can make the user grasp the accommodation situationof the object accommodated on the inside of the vehicle or the likewhich is the delivery destination of the package while paying attentionto the user's privacy.

A fifth aspect of the disclosure relates to a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing an image acquisition programcausing a mobile terminal to execute a process, the mobile terminalbeing equipped with an imaging function and being carried by a delivererof a company that operates a delivery service in which an inside of avehicle, a building, or a facility used by a user is designated as adelivery destination of a package. The process includes imaging theinside of the vehicle, the building, or the facility by the delivererusing the imaging function at a time of delivery of the package, andtransmitting, to a predetermined external device, a capture image insidethe vehicle, the building, or the facility captured by the imaging.

According to the aspects of the disclosure, it is possible to provide aninformation processing device, an information processing method, animage acquisition method, and a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing a program that can make the user grasp the accommodationsituation of the object accommodated inside the vehicle or the likewhich is the delivery destination of the package, in the deliveryservice in which the inside of a vehicle or the like used by the user isdesignated as the delivery destination of the package.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denotelike elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configurationof an authentication key management system;

FIG. 2 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding locking and unlocking of a vehicle in the authentication keymanagement system;

FIG. 3 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a key sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem;

FIG. 4 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a vehicle cabin delivery service in the authentication keymanagement system;

FIG. 5 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a consumer to consumer (C2C) car sharing service in theauthentication key management system;

FIG. 6 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a business to consumer (B2C) car sharing service in theauthentication key management system;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a first example oftrunk image acquisition processing by a mobile terminal carried by adeliverer;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a second example of thetrunk image acquisition processing by the mobile terminal carried by thedeliverer;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a first example of atrunk accommodation situation notification processing by a centerserver;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a second example ofthe trunk accommodation situation notification processing by the centerserver; and

FIG. 11 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a third example of thetrunk accommodation situation notification processing by the centerserver.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the disclosure will be describedwith reference to the drawings.

Overall Configuration of Authentication Key Management System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an overallconfiguration of an authentication key management system 1 according toan embodiment.

The authentication key management system 1 includes a vehicle 10, amobile terminal 20, a center server 30, and a service management server40.

The vehicle 10 can perform wireless communication (hereinafter referredto as “near field communication”) with the mobile terminal 20 at arelatively short distance (a distance that allows communication betweenthe inside of a vehicle cabin and the outside of the vehicle cabin)according to a predetermined communication standard. The vehicle 10 is atarget on which locking and unlocking of doors and activation (ignitionon) of the vehicle 10 are performed based on transmission signals (anauthentication request, a locking request, and an unlocking request tobe described below) from the mobile terminal 20. The door of the vehicle10 may include not only a door for getting on and off, but also a doorfor a package (for example, a trunk lid or a backdoor) that allowsaccess to a trunk (a package room). The ignition on (IG-ON) of thevehicle 10 may include ON of a power supply to an electric motor in thevehicle 10 using the electric motor as a main power source, in additionto startup of an engine in the vehicle 10 using the engine as a mainpower source. Hereinafter, in the embodiment, description will be givenon the premise that the vehicle 10 includes an engine 117 to bedescribed below as a main power source, the activation (IG-ON) of thevehicle 10 corresponds to startup of the engine 117, and stopping(IG-OFF) of the vehicle 10 corresponds to stopping of the engine 117.

The vehicle 10 is communicably connected to the center server 30 over apredetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phone networkor an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations). The vehicle 10 transmits vehicle information such asposition information to the center server 30, as described below.

The vehicle 10 includes a vehicle 10A owned by an individual and avehicle 10B owned by a company providing a business to consumer(hereinafter referred to as “B2C”) car sharing service.

The mobile terminal 20 is communicably connected to the center server 30over a predetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phonenetwork or an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations). The mobile terminal 20 can unlock or lock the vehicle 10by acquiring authentication key information (an example of keyinformation. The authentication key information is hereinafter referredto as an “authentication key”) distributed from the center server 30 andtransmitting the acquired authentication key to the vehicle 10 throughrelatively short distance wireless communication according to a user'spredetermined manipulation. The mobile terminal 20 may be, for example,a general-purpose mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. Aswill be described below, a predetermined application program(hereinafter referred to as a “key application”) installed in a built-inprocessing device 23 is activated, and thereby, the above describedfunction may be realized. The mobile terminal 20 may be a dedicatedmobile terminal specialized for unlocking of the doors of the vehicle 10and activation of the vehicle 10 by acquiring the authentication keyfrom the center server 30 and using the acquired authentication key. Themobile terminal 20 includes mobile terminals 20Aa to 20Ad correspondingto the vehicle 10A and a mobile terminal 20B corresponding to thevehicle 10B.

The mobile terminal 20Aa is a mobile terminal carried by an owner(hereinafter referred to as an “owner user”) among regular users of thevehicle 10A (hereinafter referred to as “regular users”). The mobileterminal 20Aa may bidirectionally communicate with the mobile terminal20Ab through wireless communication at a relatively short distance.

The mobile terminal 20Ab is a mobile terminal carried by a regular userother than the owner user of the vehicle 10A (for example, including afamily member of the owner user and a close friend of the owner user.The regular user is hereinafter referred to as a “sub-user”).

The sub-user may include a user who does not drive the vehicle 10A or auser who cannot drive (for example, an owner user's child under 18 yearsof age). This is because, for example, when solely a vehicle cabindelivery service to be described below is used, the regular user doesnot need to drive the vehicle 10A.

The mobile terminal 20Ac is carried by a deliverer of a company thatprovides a vehicle cabin delivery service to be described below(hereinafter simply referred to as a “delivery company”). The mobileterminal 20Ac is communicably connected to the center server 30 and adelivery management server 50 to be described below over a predeterminedcommunication network (for example, a mobile phone network or anInternet network in which a plurality of base stations is terminations).

The mobile terminal 20Ad is a mobile terminal carried by a borrower ofthe vehicle 10A in a consumer to consumer (hereinafter referred to as“C2C”) car sharing service to be described below. The mobile terminal20Ad is communicably connected to the center server 30 and a C2C carsharing management server 70 to be described below over thepredetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phone networkor an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations).

The mobile terminal 20B is a mobile terminal carried by the borrower ofthe vehicle 10B in a B2C car sharing service to be described below. Themobile terminal 20B is communicably connected to the center server 30and a B2C car sharing management server 80 to be described below overthe predetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phonenetwork or an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations).

The center server 30 is communicably connected to the vehicle 10, themobile terminal 20, and the service management server 40.

The center server 30 manages issuance of an authentication key of thevehicle 10. For example, the center server 30 issues the authenticationkey according to a predetermined condition and distributes theauthentication key to the mobile terminal 20.

The center server 30 acquires position information of the vehicle 10from the vehicle 10. Accordingly, the center server 30 can grasp theposition of the vehicle 10.

The center server 30 operates the car sharing service for sharing thevehicle 10A among a plurality of regular users including the owner userof the vehicle 10A. Specifically, the center server 30 operates aservice for sharing the authentication key of the vehicle 10A that eachof a plurality of pre-registered regular users including the owner usercan acquire in the mobile terminal 20 of the regular user (the mobileterminals 20Aa, 20Ab) (a key sharing service).

The center server 30 performs a registration processing (a useregistration processing) of allowing the regular user of the vehicle 10Ato use a service for using the vehicle 10A (a key sharing service, avehicle cabin delivery service, a C2C car sharing service, or the like).Specifically, the center server 30 registers an authority to distributethe authentication key to the predetermined mobile terminal 20(hereinafter referred to as an “authentication key arrangementauthority”) by a key sharing management unit 3207 or the servicemanagement server 40 to be described below transmitting anauthentication key arrangement request to be described below in orderfor the regular user of the vehicle 10A to use the service for using thevehicle 10A.

The center server 30 manages a use situation of the vehicle 10A througha plurality of services (that is, a plurality of companies) through avehicle cabin delivery service, a C2C car sharing service, and the liketo be described below.

The service management server 40 operates and manages various servicesthat are provided using the vehicle 10. The service management server 40includes the delivery management server 50 and an electronic commerce(EC) server 60 corresponding to the vehicle cabin delivery service, aC2C car sharing management server 70 corresponding to the C2C carsharing service, a B2C car sharing management server 80 corresponding tothe B2C car sharing service.

The vehicle cabin delivery service may include a delivery service inwhich a product ordered at an EC site to be described below is adelivery target, and a delivery service in which a product other thanthe product ordered at the EC site is a delivery target. For example,the vehicle cabin delivery service in which the product other than theproduct ordered at the EC site is the delivery target is a service inwhich the regular user of the vehicle 10A can change a deliverydestination to the trunk of the vehicle 10A when there is a notificationindicating that the package destined for a home is scheduled to bedelivered, from the delivery management server 50 to the regular user ofthe vehicle 10A through an email, an account of social networkingservice (SNS), or a specific application program activated at mobileterminals 20Aa, 20Ab. Hereinafter, in the embodiment, description willbe given while focusing on the vehicle cabin delivery service in whichthe product ordered at the EC site is the delivery target. An operationof each configuration related to the vehicle cabin delivery service tobe described below can be appropriately applied to an operation of eachconfiguration in the vehicle cabin delivery service in which the productother than the product ordered at the EC site is the delivery target.

The delivery management server 50 is communicably connected to themobile terminal 20Ac and the center server 30 over a predeterminedcommunication network, and performs an operation and management of adistribution system related to the vehicle cabin delivery service fromreception of the package to the delivery of the package to the trunk ofthe vehicle 10A.

A delivery company operating the delivery management server 50 mayprovide the regular user of the vehicle 10A with a delivery service inwhich a vehicle cabin other than the trunk of the vehicle 10A can bedesignated as a delivery destination in place of the trunk of thevehicle 10A or in addition to the trunk of the vehicle 10A. HereinafterA delivery service in which the vehicle cabin (that is, the inside ofthe vehicle 10A) including the trunk of the vehicle 10A can bedesignated as the delivery destination is referred to as a “vehiclecabin delivery service”. The delivery company operating the deliverymanagement server 50 may provide the regular user of the vehicle 10Awith a pick-up service in which the vehicle cabin including the trunkcan be designated as a package pick-up point (hereinafter referred to asa “vehicle cabin pick-up service”), as well as the vehicle cabindelivery service. That is, the delivery management server 50 may performan operation and management of the vehicle cabin pick-up service inplace of the vehicle cabin delivery service or in addition to thevehicle cabin delivery service. In this case, the package that is apick-up target may be a product (that is, a product purchased at the ECsite) returning to an operating company of the EC site corresponding tothe EC server 60 (or a store opened at the EC site) or may be thepackage for delivery not related to the EC site. The vehicle cabinpick-up service may be realized as a pick-up service when a company (forexample, a company for clothes cleaning) that provides a service in aform of temporarily keeping products from a customer keeps the packagefrom the regular user of the vehicle 10A. In this case, a cleaningcompany or the like may provide a pick-up management server thatoperates and manages the vehicle cabin pick-up service, which can beincluded in the service management server 40, as in the deliverymanagement server 50. That is, the pick-up management server may beprovided, in place of the delivery management server 50 or in additionto the delivery management server 50. A recovery service in which thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A can be designated as a recovery pointof articles that are recovery targets (hereinafter referred to as a“vehicle cabin recovery service”) may be provided to the regular user ofthe vehicle 10A by a company that provides a service in a form ofrecovering predetermined articles (articles such as waste or asecond-hand book desired to be purchased) from customers (for example, awaste recovery company or an antique purchase company). In this case, arecovery management server that operates and manages the trunk recoveryservice, which may be included in the service management server 40, maybe provided by a waste recovery company or the like, similar to thedelivery management server 50. That is, the recovery management servermay be provided, in place of the delivery management server 50 or inaddition to the delivery management server 50.

The EC server 60 is communicably connected to the center server 30 andthe delivery management server 50 over a predetermined communicationnetwork, and operates a predetermined website (an EC site) for sellingproducts or services. More specifically, the EC server 60 displays thetrunk of the vehicle 10A as an option of the delivery destination on anorder screen of the EC site, for regular users of the vehicle 10A and adelivery company (a delivery company corresponding to the deliverymanagement server 50) that have been registered in advance. Accordingly,the regular user of the vehicle 10A can have the purchased productdelivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A even when the regular user isabsent at the home.

The C2C car sharing management server 70 is communicably connected tothe mobile terminal 20Ad and the center server 30, and performs anoperation and management of the C2C car sharing service that support oflending and borrowing of the vehicle 10A between individuals. Forexample, the C2C car sharing management server 70 performs an operationand management of the C2C car sharing service such as reception ofregistration of a date and time when the vehicle 10A can be lent by theowner user, reception of reservation of use from a person who wants toborrow the vehicle 10A, and arrangement of the authentication key of thevehicle 10A. The C2C car sharing management server 70 may operate andmanage the C2C trunk sharing service in an aspect in which the inside ofthe vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A of an individual or the trunkthereof is lent as a temporary package storage place, a package deliverydestination, or the like.

The B2C car sharing management server 80 is communicably connected tothe mobile terminal 20B and the center server 30, and performs anoperation and management of the B2C car sharing service in which thevehicle 10B owned by a predetermined company (for example, a companythat provides the B2C car sharing service) is lent in an aspect in whichthe vehicle 10B can be shared among a plurality of general consumers.For example, the B2C car sharing management server 80 performs anoperation and management of the B2C car sharing service such asreception of reservation of use of the vehicle 10B, and arrangement of aparking position of the vehicle 10B and the authentication key of thevehicle 10B. The B2C car sharing management server 80 may operate andmanage the B2C trunk sharing service in an aspect in which the inside ofthe vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10B or the trunk is lent as a temporarypackage storage space or a package delivery destination.

A company car use management server that operates a car sharing service(a company car use management service) in which an employee of a companyis a borrower, with the vehicle 10 as a company car of the company beinga reservation of use target, may be included in the service managementserver 40, instead of the B2C car sharing management server 80 or inaddition to the B2C car sharing management server 80. In this case, whenthere is an idle time period of the vehicle 10, which is the companycar, the C2C car sharing management server 70 may operate the C2C carsharing service, with the vehicle 10 as a company car being a borrowingtarget. The delivery management server 50 and the EC server 60 mayoperate the vehicle cabin delivery service in which a deliverydestination of the package to be delivered to a company can bedesignated as a trunk of the vehicle 10 that is a company car of thecompany.

Details of Configuration Regarding Locking, Unlocking, and Activation ofVehicle

A configuration regarding locking, unlocking, and activation of vehicle10 in the authentication key management system 1 will be described withreference to FIG. 2 .

FIG. 2 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding locking, unlocking, and activation of the vehicle 10 in theauthentication key management system 1. The vehicle 10 includes alocking, unlocking and activation device 11, a key unit 12, a globalpositioning system (GPS) module 13, and a data communication module(DCM) 14.

The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 is attached to thevehicle 10 and performs unlocking and locking of the doors of thevehicle 10 according to a locking signal and an unlocking signal to betransmitted as radio waves in a radio frequency (RF) band (for example,300 MHz to 3 GHz) (hereinafter referred to as “RF radio waves”) from thekey unit 12. The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 activatesthe vehicle 10 according to exchange using radio waves in a lowfrequency (LF) band (for example, 30 Hz to 300 kHz) (hereinafterreferred to as “LF radio waves”) and RF radio waves with the key unitusing a pressing manipulation of an activation switch (not illustrated)provided in the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 as a trigger. Thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 includes an LF radio wavetransmitter 111, an RF radio wave receiver 112, a collating electroniccontrol unit (ECU) 113, a body ECU 114, a door lock motor 115, an engineECU 116, and the engine 117 as a driving power source of the vehicle 10.

The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 operates with powersupplied from an auxiliary battery (not illustrated) mounted on thevehicle 10.

The LF radio wave transmitter 111 is embedded into, for example, acenter console or a door handle in the vehicle cabin, and transmits LFradio waves under the control of the collating ECU 113.

The RF radio wave receiver 112 is provided, for example, in a trim of apackage room of the vehicle 10 and receives RF radio waves under thecontrol of the collating ECU 113.

The collating ECU 113 is an electronic control unit that controlslocking and unlocking of the doors of the vehicle 10 and activation ofthe vehicle 10 based on exchange of signals with the key unit 12. Thecollating ECU 113 is realized by any hardware, any software, or acombination of any hardware and any software. For example, the collatingECU 113 is configured mainly of a microcomputer includes a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory(ROM), an auxiliary storage device, a real time clock (RTC), and acommunication interface. The collating ECU 113 realizes various controlprocessing by executing various programs stored in the ROM or theauxiliary storage device on the CPU. Hereinafter, the same applies tothe key ECU 124 to be described below.

The collating ECU 113 receives an unlocking signal and a locking signaltransmitted as RF radio waves from the key unit 12 using the RF radiowave receiver 112.

When the collating ECU 113 receives the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal, the collating ECU 113 performs authentication of a transmissionsource (the key unit 12) of the unlocking signal or the locking signalbased on key information included in the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal (hereinafter referred to as “internal key information”). Forexample, when the internal key information registered in an internalmemory such as an auxiliary storage device in advance matches theinternal key information included in the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal, the collating ECU 113 determines that the authentication issuccessful, and when the internal key information registered in theinternal memory such as the auxiliary storage device in advance does notmatch the internal key information included in the unlocking signal orthe locking signal, the collating ECU 113 determines that theauthentication fails.

For example, the collating ECU 113 may transmit LF radio waves includinga “challenge” created in a predetermined method using the internal keyinformation of the internal memory from the LF radio wave transmitter111 to the key unit 12 and perform challenge response authenticationbased on a “response” replied from the key unit 12, which is receivedfrom the RF radio wave receiver 112.

When the authentication is successful, the collating ECU 113 transmitsan unlocking command (upon reception of the unlocking signal) or alocking command (upon reception of the locking signal) to the body ECU114 via an in-vehicle network such as a controller area network (CAN).

After the transmission of the unlocking command or the locking commandto the body ECU 114, when a reply that the door is normally unlocked orlocked (an unlock reply or a lock reply) is received from the body ECU114 via the in-vehicle network such as the CAN, the collating ECU 113transmits the notification (an unlock notification or a locknotification) to the key unit 12 indicating that the door is unlocked orlocked via the LF radio wave transmitter 111.

As will be described below, in the unlocking signal, solely some of thedoors of the vehicle 10 may be designated as unlocked targets. In thiscase, the collating ECU 113 designates the door as an unlocked target inthe unlocking command. Accordingly, the body ECU 114 can operate solelythe door lock motor 115 corresponding to some designated doors andunlock solely some doors.

When the above described activation switch is manipulated to be pressed,the collating ECU 113 performs authentication of the key unit 12 byexchanging signals with the key unit 12 using the LF radio wavetransmitter 111 and the RF radio wave receiver 112.

For example, the collating ECU 113 transmits a request signal in an LFband from the LF radio wave transmitter 111 to the key unit 12 torequest reply of the internal key information. When a response signalincluding the internal key information is received from the key unit 12by the RF radio wave receiver 112, the collating ECU 113 determinesauthentication success or authentication failure based on matchingbetween the internal key information registered in the internal memoryin advance and the internal key information included in the responsesignal, as in the case of locking and unlocking the doors.

For example, the collating ECU 113 may perform challenge responseauthentication, as in the case of locking and unlocking of doors.

When the authentication has succeeded, the collating ECU 113 transmits astartup command of the engine 117 to the engine ECU 116 through thein-vehicle network such as the CAN.

The body ECU 114 is an electronic control unit that performs operationcontrol of the door lock motor 115 that is communicably connected via aone-to-one communication line or the like. The body ECU 114 outputs acontrol command to cause the door lock motor 115 to perform an unlockingoperation according to the unlocking command from the collating ECU 113.The body ECU 114 outputs a control command to cause the door lock motor115 to perform a locking operation according to the locking command fromthe collating ECU 113. In addition, when the door is normally unlockedor locked by the output of the control command to the door lock motor115, the body ECU 114 transmits the unlock reply or the lock reply tothe collating ECU 113 via the in-vehicle network such as the CAN.

The door lock motor 115 is a known electric actuator that unlocks andlocks the doors of the vehicle 10 according to the control command fromthe body ECU 114.

The engine ECU 116 is an electronic control unit that drives andcontrols the engine 117. Specifically, the engine ECU 116 drives andcontrols various actuators such as a starter or an injector, which aremounted on the engine 117. When the startup command is input from thecollating ECU 113, the engine ECU 116 outputs a control command tovarious actuators such as a starter or an injector of the engine 117 tostart up the engine 117.

The key unit 12 is disposed in the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 andtransmits the unlocking signal and the locking signal as RF radio wavesto the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to of theunlocking request and the locking request transmitted from the mobileterminal 20. The key unit 12 performs exchange of signals with thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to the signal inthe LF band transmitted from the locking, unlocking and activationdevice 11 when the activation switch provided in the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10 is manipulated to be pressed. The key unit 12 includes anLF radio wave receiver 121, an RF radio wave transmitter 122, acommunication device 123, and a key ECU 124.

The key unit 12 may be disposed at a position (for example, a glove box,or the inside of a center console box) at which it is difficult forusers seated on respective seats of the vehicle 10 to visually recognizethe key unit 12. The key unit 12 may be fixed or may not be fixed to thevehicle 10. The key unit 12 may be operated by a built-in button batteryor the like or may be operated by power supplied from an auxiliarybattery mounted on the vehicle 10.

The LF radio wave receiver 121 receives the LF radio waves under thecontrol of the key ECU 124.

The RF radio wave transmitter 122 transmits RF radio waves under thecontrol of the key ECU 124.

The communication device 123 is any device that performs near fieldcommunication with the mobile terminal 20 under the control of the keyECU 124. The communication device 123 may be, for example, a BLEcommunication module that performs communication with the mobileterminal 20 in compliance with a Bluetooth (registered trademark) lowenergy (BLE) communication standard. Hereinafter, description will begiven on the premise that a communication standard adopted in thecommunication device 123 conforms to BLE communication.

The communication device 123 may be a communication device conforming toa short-range communication standard having a very short communicabledistance, such as a near field communication (NFC) standard. In thiscase, the communication device 123 may be built-in one, for example, ata position (for example, the inside of the door handle) close to a bodysurface of the vehicle 10 outside the vehicle cabin. Accordingly, thekey unit 12 (the key ECU 124) can communicate with the mobile terminal20 outside the vehicle cabin even when the communicable distance of thecommunication device 123 is very short.

The key ECU 124 is an electronic control unit that performs a controlprocessing of transmitting a locking signal and an unlocking signal tothe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to theunlocking request and the locking request received from the mobileterminal 20.

The key ECU 124 controls the communication device 123 and establishes astate in which communication according to a predetermined communicationstandard with the mobile terminal 20, such as a BLE communicationstandard is possible.

Specifically, the key ECU 124 periodically (for example, every severalseconds) transmits an advertising packet including advertisementinformation reachable in a predetermined communication range (forexample, several meters to tens of meters) from the communication device123. The advertisement information includes a universally uniqueidentifier (UUID) corresponding to the key unit 12, a device identifier(ID), and the like. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20 can identify thekey unit 12 mounted on the vehicle 10 that is a target by receiving theadvertising packet and confirming the advertisement information.

When a connection request for requesting connection based on the BLEcommunication is received from the mobile terminal 20 present in acommunication range of the vehicle 10 (the key unit 12) that hasreceived the advertising packet, the key ECU 124 establishes a state inwhich BLE communication between the mobile terminal 20 and the vehicle10 (the key unit 12) is possible. In this case, the key ECU 124transmits a connection response indicating that the state in which theBLE communication is possible has been established, to the mobileterminal 20 via the communication device 123.

The key ECU 124 receives an authentication request including anauthentication key associated with the key unit 12 from the mobileterminal 20 via the communication device 123 in a state in which theabove described BLE communication is established.

When the authentication request including the authentication keyassociated with the key unit 12 is received from the mobile terminal 20,the key ECU 124 performs authentication of the mobile terminal 20 basedon the authentication key. When the authentication has been successful,the key ECU 124 restores the internal key information stored in aninternal memory such as an auxiliary storage device to a usable state.The internal key information is stored in a state in which the internalkey information cannot be used for authentication in the locking,unlocking and activation device 11, for example, due to a state in whichthe internal key information is not accessible or a state in which theinternal key information has been encrypted. Therefore, when theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 has been successful, the keyECU 124, for example, performs changing of an authority to access theinternal memory for changing the key information to an accessible state,or decodes encrypted internal key information based on theauthentication key. Accordingly, the key ECU 124 can access the internalkey information which is not normally accessible to transmit anunlocking signal or a locking signal including the internal keyinformation to the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 ortransmit an unlocking signal or a locking signal including decodedinternal key information to the locking, unlocking and activation device11. Therefore, the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 canperform appropriate authentication based on the internal key informationincluded in the unlocking signal and the locking signal. Even when asituation in which a malicious third party illegally obtains the keyunit 12 occurs, the internal key information in the key unit 12, forexample, is not accessible or is encrypted, occurrence of theft of thevehicle 10 can be suppressed.

The key ECU 124 receives the unlocking request and the locking requestfrom the mobile terminal 20 via the communication device 123 in a statein which the above described BLE communication is established. When theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 is successful (specifically, astate in which the BLE communication has been established is kept afterthe authentication of the mobile terminal 20 has been successful) andthe key ECU 124 has received the unlocking request or the lockingrequest from the mobile terminal 20, the key ECU 124 transmits theunlocking signal or the locking signal including locking and unlockingkey information to the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 viathe RF radio wave transmitter 122.

Accordingly, unlocking or locking of the doors of the vehicle 10 isrealized after an authentication processing in the locking, unlockingand activation device 11.

Further, after the transmission of the unlocking signal to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11, when the unlock notification isreceived from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 via the LFradio wave receiver 121, the key ECU 124 transmits an unlock completionnotification to the mobile terminal 20 for which the BLE communicationis established, that is, the mobile terminal 20 as the transmissionsource of the unlocking request, via the communication device 123.Similarly, after the transmission of the locking signal to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11, when the lock notification isreceived from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 via the LFradio wave receiver 121, the key ECU 124 transmits a lock completionnotification to the mobile terminal 20 for which the BLE communicationis established, via the communication device 123. As a result, themobile terminal 20 which is the transmission source of the lockingrequest or the unlocking request based on the user's predeterminedmanipulation can grasp that the locking and unlocking of the vehicle 10Ahas been normally completed.

As described above, the key ECU 124 performs exchange of signals withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to a signal inthe LF band transmitted from the locking, unlocking and activationdevice 11 when the activation switch provided in the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10 is manipulated to be pressed.

For example, when the request signal is received from the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 by the LF radio wave receiver 121,the key ECU 124 transmits a response signal including the internal keyinformation stored in the internal memory or the like to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 via the RF radio wave transmitter122.

For example, when the LF radio waves including the “challenge” arereceived from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 by the LFradio wave receiver 121, the key ECU 124 generates a “response” based onthe internal key information and transmits the response to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 via the RF radio wave transmitter122.

Accordingly, after the authentication processing in the locking,unlocking and activation device 11, the startup of the engine 117 isrealized.

An authority regarding a function of locking, unlocking, or activatingthe vehicle 10 imparted by the center server 30 may be defined in theauthentication key.

For example, when the authentication key has solely the authority tounlock some of the doors of the vehicle 10, the key ECU 124 transmits anunlocking signal including information for designating the door to beunlocked to the key unit 12 via the RF radio wave transmitter 122.Accordingly, solely some of the doors of the vehicle 10 can be unlockedas described above.

For example, when the authentication key does not have the authority toactivate the engine 117, the key ECU 124 may not perform exchange withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 even when the signal inthe LF band from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 basedon a pressing manipulation of the activation switch is received by theLF radio wave receiver 121. Accordingly, it is possible to prohibit theactivation of the engine 117 according to the authority of theauthentication key.

The GPS module 13 receives GPS signals transmitted from three or moresatellites and, desirably, four or more satellites over the vehicle 10,and measures a position of the vehicle 10. The GPS module 13 iscommunicably connected to the DCM 14 or the like via a one-to-onecommunication line or an in-vehicle network such as a CAN, and themeasured position information of the vehicle 10 is input to the DCM 14or the like.

The DCM 14 is a communication device that bidirectionally communicateswith the center server 30 over a predetermined communication network.The DCM 14 transmits current position information of the vehicle 10input from the GPS module 13 to the center server 30 at a predefinedtiming or according to a request from the center server 30, or the like.The DCM 14 transmits, to the center server 30, various types of vehicleinformation (for example, information indicating that unlocking of thedoor of the vehicle 10 or activation of the vehicle 10 is performedbased on the authentication key, which is acquired from the key unit 12)that can be acquired over an in-vehicle network such as a CAN at apredefined timing or according to a request from the center server 30 orthe like.

The mobile terminal 20 includes a communication device 21, acommunication device 22, a processing device 23, a touch panel display(hereinafter simply referred to as a “display”) 24, and a camera 25.

The communication device 21 is any device that performs near fieldcommunication with the mobile terminal 20 according to the samecommunication standard as that of the communication device 123. Asdescribed above, in the case of the embodiment, the communication device21 is, for example, a BLE communication module.

The communication device 22 is any device that communicates with thecenter server 30, the service management server 40, or the like over apredetermined communication network. The communication device 22 is amobile communication module corresponding to a communication standardsuch as Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4th Generation (4G), or 5thGeneration (5G).

The processing device 23 performs the various control processing in themobile terminal 20. The functions of the processing device 23 may berealized by any hardware, any software, or a combination of any hardwareand any software, and includes, for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, anauxiliary storage device, an RTC, and various interfaces forcommunication. The processing device 23 includes, for example, acommunication processing unit 2301, a communication processing unit2302, an authentication key acquisition unit 2303, an authenticationrequest unit 2304, and a locking and unlocking request unit 2305 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 23 includes, for example, a storage unit 2300 that isrealized as a storage area in the auxiliary storage device, andprocessing of storing various pieces of data in the storage unit 2300 isrealized by a predetermined program stored in the ROM or the auxiliarystorage device.

The communication processing unit 2301 performs bidirectional near fieldcommunication with the key unit 12 using the communication device 21 andperforms transmission and reception of various signals.

The communication processing unit 2302 connects to the predeterminedcommunication network using the communication device 22 and transmitsand receives various signals such as a data signal or a control signalto and from the center server 30, the service management server 40, andthe like.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 acquires the authenticationkey from the center server 30, for example, according to the user'spredetermined manipulation with respect to a predetermined graphicaluser interface (GUI) displayed on the display 24, and stores theacquired authentication key in the storage unit 2300. Hereinafter, thedescription will be given on the premise that various manipulations withrespect to the mobile terminal 20 are performed by a manipulation withrespect to the GUI displayed on the display 24 linking to the operationof the key application.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of the mobileterminal 20Aa transmits an authentication key acquisition request to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302.Accordingly, the center server 30 receives the authentication keyacquisition request, and issues the authentication key when the centerserver 30 determines that the authentication key acquisition request isa regular authentication key acquisition request. The authentication keyacquisition unit 2303 acquires the authentication key distributed fromthe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of the mobileterminal 20Ab acquires the authentication key distributed from thecenter server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ab via the communicationprocessing unit 2302 according to a key sharing request (to be describedbelow) transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aa to the center server30.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of the mobile terminal 20Abmay transmit the authentication key acquisition request by itself to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302. In thiscase, when the center server 30 receives the authentication keyacquisition request from the mobile terminal 20Ab, the center server 30may perform an inquiry about whether or not to permit distribution ofthe authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of each of themobile terminals 20Ac, 20Ad, 20B transmits an authentication keyacquisition request to the delivery management server 50, the C2C carsharing management server 70, and the B2C car sharing management server80 to request acquisition of the authentication key. Accordingly, thedelivery management server 50, the C2C car sharing management server 70,and the B2C car sharing management server 80 transmit an authenticationkey arrangement request to the center server 30 according to receptionof the authentication key acquisition request, and the center server 30issues the authentication key according to reception of theauthentication key arrangement request. The authentication keyacquisition unit 2303 acquires an authentication key that is distributedfrom the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of the mobile terminals20Ac, 20Ad, 20B may transmit the authentication key acquisition requestto the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302. Inthis case, the center server 30 may perform an inquiry of the deliverymanagement server 50, the C2C car sharing management server 70, and theB2C car sharing management server 80 to determine whether or not theauthentication key acquisition request is a regular authentication keyacquisition request.

The authentication request unit 2304 transmits an authentication requestto the key unit 12 of the vehicle 10 via the communication processingunit 2301 to request authentication of the mobile terminal 20 serving asa remote manipulation unit for locking and unlocking the doors of thevehicle 10. For example, when the authentication request unit 2304 findsa key unit corresponding to the authentication key, and specifically,when an advertising packet corresponding to the key unit 12 is receivedby the communication processing unit 2301, the authentication requestunit 2304 may transmit the authentication request to the key unit 12.For example, the authentication request unit 2304 may transmit theauthentication request to the key unit 12 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the user.

The locking and unlocking request unit 2305 transmits an unlockingrequest including an authentication key or a locking request includingthe authentication key to the key unit 12 via the communicationprocessing unit 2301 according to the predetermined manipulation by theuser. Accordingly, even when the unlocking request or the lockingrequest has been transmitted to the key unit 12 before theauthentication request is transmitted by the authentication request unit2304, locking and unlocking of the door of the vehicle 10 based on theauthentication processing in the key unit 12 can be realized. Forexample, an unlocking button for requesting unlocking of the vehicle 10and a locking button for requesting locking of the vehicle 10 may bedrawn in a GUI serving as a manipulation screen of the display 24, alocking request may be transmitted when the locking button ismanipulated to be touched, and an unlocking request may be transmittedwhen the unlocking button is manipulated to be touched. The lockingrequest and the unlocking request may be transmitted by a manipulationwith respect to a predetermined manipulation unit by hardware providedin the mobile terminal 20.

For example, the functions of the authentication key acquisition unit2303, the authentication request unit 2304, and the locking andunlocking request unit 2305 may be available to the user by apredetermined application program installed in the ROM of the processingdevice 23, the auxiliary storage device, or the like being activated.Hereinafter, the description will be given on the premise that thefunctions of the authentication key acquisition unit 2303, theauthentication request unit 2304, and the locking and unlocking requestunit 2305 of the processing device 23 are available to the user by thekey application already installed in the processing device 23 (theauxiliary storage device or the ROM) being activated.

The display 24 is, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organicelectroluminescence (EL) display, and is a display device which isprovided on a front surface of the mobile terminal 20 and also servingas a known touch panel type manipulation unit.

In accordance with the user's predetermined manipulation, the camera 25captures the image around the mobile terminal 20 at a predeterminedangle of view as viewed from a lens provided on the front surface or arear surface of the mobile terminal 20. The capture image captured bythe camera 25 is input to the processing device 23.

The center server 30 includes a communication device 31 and a processingdevice 32.

The functions of the center server 30 may be shared and realized by aplurality of servers. Hereinafter, the same applies to the deliverymanagement server 50, the EC server 60, the C2C car sharing managementserver 70, and the B2C car sharing management server 80.

The communication device 31 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the vehicle 10, the mobile terminal 20, andthe service management server 40 over a predetermined communicationnetwork.

The processing device 32 performs the various control processing in thecenter server 30. The functions of the processing device 32 may berealized by any hardware, any software, or a combination of any hardwareand any software, and the processing device 32 is mainly configured ofone or a plurality of server computers including, for example, a CPU, aRAM, a ROM, an auxiliary storage device, an RTC, and a predeterminedcommunication interface. Hereinafter, the same applies to processingdevices 52, 62, 72, 82 to be described below of the delivery managementserver 50, the EC server 60, the C2C car sharing management server 70,and the B2C car sharing management server 80. The processing device 32includes, for example, a communication processing unit 3201, a conditiondetermination unit 3202, and an authentication key issuance unit 3203 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 32 includes, for example, a storage unit 3200 that isrealized as a storage area defined in an auxiliary storage device of aserver computer or an external storage device connected to the servercomputer, and the processing in which various pieces of data are storedin the storage unit 3200 is realized by a program stored in the ROM orthe auxiliary storage device. Hereinafter, the same applies to thestorage units 520, 620, 720, 820 to be described below.

The communication processing unit 3201 controls the communication device31 to perform exchange of various signals such as control signals andinformation signals with the vehicle 10, the mobile terminal 20, and theservice management server 40.

The condition determination unit 3202 determines whether or not theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestor a regular authentication key arrangement request according toreception of an authentication key acquisition request from the mobileterminal 20 or an authentication key arrangement request from theservice management server 40 received by the communication processingunit 3201.

When the condition determination unit 3202 determines that theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is the regular one, the authentication key issuanceunit 3203 specifies a specification of the authentication key to beissued and issues an authentication key corresponding to the specifiedspecification. For example, the authentication key issuance unit 3203specifies the vehicle 10 that is a target of locking and unlocking usingthe authentication key or the key unit 12 corresponding to the vehicle10. For example, the authentication key issuance unit 3203 specifies theauthority of the authentication key regarding a period of time in whichthe authentication key is valid (available) and the number of times theauthentication key is available. For example, the authentication keyissuance unit 3203 specifies the authority of the authentication keyregarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle 10, such aslockable and unlockable doors and whether or not the vehicle 10 can beactivated. For example, the authentication key issuance unit 3203specifies the authority of the authentication key regarding thetemporary key sharing, such as whether or not the authentication key canbe shared with another mobile terminal 20 through a temporary keysharing to be described below, a period of time in which theauthentication key can be shared with the other mobile terminal 20, andthe number of times the authentication key can be shared with the othermobile terminal 20. Hereinafter, the authority of the authentication keyregarding the period of time in which the authentication key isavailable, the number of times the authentication key is available, andthe like, the authority of the authentication key regarding theunlocking or activation of the vehicle 10, and the authority of theauthentication key regarding the temporary key sharing are collectivelysimply referred to as “various authorities of the authentication key”.The authentication key issuance unit 3203 distributes the authenticationkey issued to the mobile terminal 20 that is a target via thecommunication processing unit 3201.

Details of Configuration Regarding Key Sharing Service

A configuration regarding the key sharing service in the authenticationkey management system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 .

FIG. 3 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding the key sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem 1. Hereinafter, a configuration regarding the key sharing servicein the authentication key management system 1 will be mainly describedwith reference to FIG. 3 , and duplicate description on theconfiguration overlapping the configuration regarding locking,unlocking, and activation of the vehicle 10 described above will beomitted as much as possible. Hereinafter, the same applies todescription of FIGS. 4 to 6 .

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit2301, the communication processing unit 2302, the authentication keyacquisition unit 2303, the authentication request unit 2304, and thelocking and unlocking request unit 2305, as described above. Theprocessing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa further includes a userregistration request unit 2306, a service use registration request unit2307, a service use situation request unit 2308, and a key sharingrequest unit 2309 as functional units that are realized by executing oneor more programs stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device onthe CPU.

In the embodiment, the description will be given on the premise that thefunctions of the user registration request unit 2306, the service useregistration request unit 2307, the service use situation request unit2308, and the key sharing request unit 2309 of the mobile terminal 20Aaare available to the owner user by the key application being activatedand the user authentication based on bidirectional communication withthe center server 30 being successful. The description will be given onthe premise that the user authentication is performed by the centerserver 30 based on an ID defined for the owner user (hereinafterreferred to as an “owner user ID”) in advance and a passwordcorresponding to the owner user ID.

The user registration request unit 2306 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user of the vehicle 10A that uses various services(the key sharing service, the vehicle cabin delivery service, the C2Ccar sharing service, and the like) for using the vehicle 10A, accordingto a predetermined manipulation by the owner user. For example, the userregistration request unit 2306 transmits a user registration requestincluding an owner user ID and a password and attribute information (forexample, a name, age, and relationship with the owner user) forspecifying a sub-user who is a registration target to the center server30 via the communication processing unit 2302.

When a notification indicating that registration of the sub-user hasbeen completed (a user registration completion notification) is receivedfrom the center server 30 by the communication processing unit 2302, theuser registration request unit 2306 stores an ID (hereinafter referredto as a “sub-user ID”) and a password of the sub-user included in theuser registration completion notification in the storage unit 2300. Inthis case, the user registration request unit 2306 may transmit thesub-user ID and the password to the mobile terminal 20Ab carried by theregistered sub-user via the communication processing unit 2301 accordingto a predetermined manipulation by the owner user.

The service use registration request unit 2307 requests the centerserver 30 to perform registration of use of various services for usingthe vehicle 10A by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user. That is, the service useregistration request unit 2307 requests registration of theauthentication key arrangement authority of the key sharing managementunit 3207 or the service management server 40 corresponding to variousservices for allowing regular users of the vehicle 10A to use variousservices, as described above. For example, the service use registrationrequest unit 2307 transmits a service use registration request includingthe owner user ID and the password, the information for specifying thevehicle 10A to be used for various services, the information forspecifying the service that is a target, and the ID of the regular userwho uses the target service (the owner user ID or the sub-user ID) tothe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302.Hereinafter, the owner user ID and the sub-user ID may be collectivelyreferred to as a “regular user ID”. Accordingly, the service useregistration request unit 2307 can register a sub-user who uses the keysharing service in the center server 30.

The service use registration request unit 2307 receives a notificationthat the use registration of the service based on the service useregistration request has been completed from at least one of the centerserver 30 and the service management server 40 through the communicationprocessing unit 2302. The service use registration request unit 2307causes the display 24 to display an indication that the use registrationof the specific service by the regular user of the vehicle 10A based onthe predetermined manipulation by the owner user has been completed.Accordingly, the owner user can grasp that the use registration of thespecific service by the regular user has been completed.

The service use situation request unit 2308 requests the center server30 to provide information on the use situation of various services(service use situation information) including the key sharing service bythe regular user of the vehicle 10A for which the use registration hasbeen completed in a form corresponding to the owner user ID according toa predetermined manipulation by the owner user. For example, the serviceuse situation request unit 2308 transmits a service use situationrequest including the owner user ID and the password to the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 2302. When the serviceuse situation information received from the center server 30 by thecommunication processing unit 2302 is received, the service usesituation request unit 2308 displays the service use situationinformation on the display 24. Accordingly, the owner user can centrallygrasp the information on the use situation of each service by each ofthe regular users registered for use in the center server 30 in anaspect in which the information is linked to the owner user ID.

The key sharing request unit 2309 requests the center server 30 todistribute the authentication key for performing locking, unlocking oractivating of the vehicle 10A to the sub-user registered for use in thekey sharing service according to a predetermined manipulation by theowner user. For example, the key sharing request unit 2309 transmits akey sharing request including an owner user ID and a password,information for specifying the vehicle 10A that is a locking andunlocking target by the authentication key, and information (forexample, a sub-user ID) for specifying the sub-user that is adistribution (share) target of the authentication key to the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 2302. When the keysharing request unit 2309 transmits the key sharing request, use periodinformation (for example, a date and time of use start and a date andtime of use end) regarding a period of time in which the authenticationkey set and distributed by a predetermined manipulation by the owneruser is available may be included in the key sharing request. The keysharing request may include authority information on various authoritiesof the authentication key, such as an authority of the authenticationkey regarding a period of time in which the authentication key isavailable or the number of times the authentication key is available, anauthority of the authentication key regarding the unlocking oractivation of the vehicle, and an authority of the authentication keyregarding temporary key sharing to be described below, which can bedesignated according to the predetermined manipulation by the owneruser. Accordingly, as described below, when the authentication keyavailable at the same time is shared among the mobile terminals 20, theowner user can appropriately set authority information such that use ofthe vehicle 10A by a user other than the owner user can be limited.Therefore, security of the vehicle 10A can be improved.

The key sharing request unit 2309 may set the mobile terminals 20 (thatis, at least one of the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab) of a plurality ofregular users of the vehicle 10A as distribution targets and request thecenter server 30 to distribute the authentication key of which theperiods of time in which the authentication key is available overlapaccording to the predetermined manipulation by the owner user. That is,in the key sharing request, the regular users that are authenticationkey distribution targets may be designated, or the owner users may beincluded among the regular users. In the key sharing request, the periodof time in which the authentication key is available for each of thedesignated regular users may overlap. Accordingly, the authenticationkey of the vehicle 10A available at the same time can be shared by theregular users. Therefore, for example, when a plurality of persons getson the vehicle 10A together and go out for travel, camp, or the like,each of passengers can lock and unlock the vehicle 10A without lendingand borrowing the mobile terminal 20 in which the authentication key hasbeen stored, and therefore, convenience for users can be improved.

Even when the key sharing request unit 2309 may share the distributedauthentication key with another mobile terminal 20 (that is, the mobileterminal 20 in which the key application is installed) according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user (hereinafter, a sharingaspect of the authentication key will be referred to as “temporary keysharing”). In the above described case, the other mobile terminal 20 maybe the mobile terminal 20Ab of the sub-user or may be the user's mobileterminal 20 other than the sub-user, that is, a user temporarily usingthe vehicle 10A.

For example, the key sharing request unit 2309 transmits theauthentication key (more specifically, a copy of the authentication key)to another mobile terminal 20 via the communication processing unit2301. Accordingly, the owner user of the vehicle 10A can share theauthentication key with the other user even when a plurality of personssuddenly gets on the vehicle 10A together and goes out for traveling orthe like. It is possible to share the authentication key available atthe same time with the other mobile terminal 20 directly from the mobileterminal 20Aa. Accordingly, for example, even when the mobile terminal20Aa is at a place at which a communication situation in a wirelessmobile communication network is poor or out of a communication range,the owner user of the vehicle 10A can share the authentication key withthe other user.

In the above described case, the key sharing request unit 2309 maytransmit the authentication key of which the authority regarding theperiod of time in which the authentication key is available or thenumber of times the authentication key is available or the authorityregarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle 10A, which is setbased on the predetermined manipulation by the owner user or which isdefined in advance, has been restricted, to the other mobile terminal 20via the communication processing unit 2301. Specifically, for example,an authentication key with an authority to limit the period of time inwhich the authentication key is available or the number of times theauthentication key is available to, for example, 30 minutes or once, oran authentication key with an authority, for example, solely to lock andunlock doors for getting on and off the vehicle 10A or prohibitactivation of the vehicle 10A may be transmitted to another mobileterminal 20. Hereinafter, the same applies to the case of temporary keysharing that is performed via the center server 30. Accordingly,security of the vehicle 10A due to the temporary key sharing can beimproved.

When the temporary key sharing is performed, the key sharing requestunit 2309 may cause the authentication key to be distributed from thecenter server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20, as in the case of anormal key sharing. In the above described case, the key sharing requestunit 2309 may transmit a temporary key sharing request includinginformation (for example, an issued ID embedded in the authenticationkey) for specifying the distributed authentication key and informationfor designating the other mobile terminal 20 that is a distributiontarget to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit2302, to cause the authentication key of the vehicle 10A to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20.

For example, when the other mobile terminal 20 is the mobile terminal20Ab of the sub-user, the key sharing request unit 2309 may transmit atemporary key sharing request including the sub-user ID to the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 2302.

For example, the key sharing request unit 2309 acquires predeterminedidentification information (for example, a quick response (QR) code(registered trademark) corresponding to the user of another mobileterminal 20 registered as a user installing the key application in thecenter server 30) from the other mobile terminal 20 via thecommunication processing unit 2301. The key sharing request unit 2309may transmit a temporary key sharing request for designating anothermobile terminal 20 specified based on the identification information asa distribution target, to the center server 30.

The mobile terminal 20Aa may acquire the identification informationusing another method. For example, the mobile terminal 20Aa may acquireidentification information corresponding to the user of the other mobileterminal 20 in an aspect in which the identification informationdisplayed on the display 24 of the other mobile terminal 20 isrecognized using a mounted camera function. For example, the mobileterminal 20Aa may acquire the identification information transmittedfrom the user of the other mobile terminal 20 to an email address or anaccount of an SNS of the owner user.

For example, according to a predetermined manipulation by the owneruser, the key sharing request unit 2309 transmits a candidate terminalinformation request for requesting a candidate terminal information on acandidate terminal that is a candidate for the other mobile terminal 20present around a current position of the mobile terminal 20Aa to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302. When thecandidate terminal information is received from the center server 30 bythe communication processing unit 2302, the key sharing request unit2309 causes the display 24 to display the candidate terminalinformation. When the candidate terminal information is displayed on thedisplay 24, information for specifying a candidate terminal in which aspecific manipulation or operation is performed among candidateterminals may be included in the candidate terminal information repliedfrom the center server 30. Accordingly, the owner user of the vehicle10A can specify another mobile terminal 20 from among the candidateterminals displayed on the display 24 of the mobile terminal 20Aa by theuser of the other mobile terminal 20 as a key sharing target performinga specific manipulation or operation with respect to the mobile terminal20. The key sharing request unit 2309 may transmit a temporary keysharing request for designating the other mobile terminal 20 specifiedfrom among the candidate terminals as a distribution target to thecenter server 30, according to a predetermined manipulation by the owneruser.

The key sharing request unit 2309 may activate the key applicationaccording to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user to transmitlink information according to a uniform resource locator (URL) schemefor allowing the other mobile terminal 20 to acquire the authenticationkey from the center server 30 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “linkinformation”) to an email address or an account of an SNS of the user ofthe other mobile terminal 20 via the communication processing unit 2302.In this case, the key sharing request unit 2309 transmits a temporarykey sharing request for designating the acquired authentication key tothe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302according to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user, andacquires the link information replied from the center server 30according to the temporary key sharing request. Accordingly, the keysharing request unit 2309 can cause the authentication key to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20.

The temporary key sharing may be executed from the mobile terminal 20Abof the sub-user to which the authentication key has already beendistributed. That is, a function regarding the temporary key sharing inthe key sharing request unit 2309 may be included in a function of thekey application that is installed in the processing device 23 of themobile terminal 20Ab of the sub-user. Accordingly, it is not needed tolend and borrow the mobile terminal 20Ab of the sub-user who hasacquired the authentication key even when a plurality of personsincluding no owner user gets on the vehicle 10A together, andconvenience for the sub-user of the vehicle 10A can be further improved.Hereinafter, description will be given on the premise that the temporarykey sharing can be performed from the mobile terminal 20Ab of thesub-user.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 3201, the condition determination unit3202, the authentication key issuance unit 3203, and the storage unit3200, as described above. The processing device 32 of the center server30 includes, for example, a position information management unit 3204, aschedule management unit 3205, a registration management unit 3206, anda key sharing management unit 3207 as functional units realized byexecuting one or more programs stored in an auxiliary storage device orthe like of a server computer on a CPU.

When the authentication key acquisition request has been received fromthe mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab by the communication processing unit3201, the condition determination unit 3202 performs authenticationbased on the regular user ID and the password included in theauthentication key acquisition request. For example, the conditiondetermination unit 3202 collates the regular user ID and passwordregistered in the storage unit 3200 with the regular user ID andpassword included in the authentication key acquisition request, anddetermines that the authentication is successful, that is, theauthentication key acquisition request is a regular authentication keyacquisition request when both match.

The condition determination unit 3202 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request sent from the key sharingmanagement unit 3207 to be described below is a regular authenticationkey arrangement request. For example, when the authentication issuccessful based on authentication information (for example, the ID andthe password) included in the authentication key arrangement requestfrom the key sharing management unit 3207, the condition determinationunit 3202 may determine that the authentication key arrangement requestis a regular authentication key arrangement request.

When the condition determination unit 3202 determines that theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestor a regular authentication key arrangement request, the authenticationkey issuance unit 3203 issues the authentication key and distributes theauthentication key to the mobile terminal 20 via the communicationprocessing unit 3201.

The position information management unit 3204 manages the positioninformation of the vehicles 10 (10A, 10B). Specifically, the positioninformation management unit 3204 transmits a position informationrequest to the vehicle 10 via the communication processing unit 3201. Inresponse to the position information request, the DCM 14 of the vehicle10 replies the center server 30 with the position information of thevehicle 10 input from the GPS module 13, and the position informationmanagement unit 3204 can acquire the position information of the vehicle10.

The position information management unit 3204 acquires the positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit3201 and monitors the position information of the vehicle 10A in realtime to grasp a movement situation of the vehicle 10A. Accordingly, forexample, the position information management unit 3204 can notify theowner user of the position information of the vehicle 10A lent to thesub-user via the communication processing unit 3201. For example, theposition information management unit 3204 can notify the mobile terminal20Ab of the sub-user of information such as whether or not the vehicle10A scheduled to be lent to the sub-user is directed to a designatedposition (for example, the home) or a reference for returning, via thecommunication processing unit 3201.

The schedule management unit 3205 manages the use situation of thevehicle 10A regarding various services. For example, the schedulemanagement unit 3205 periodically acquires a use schedule of the vehicle10 by the key sharing service and, specifically, information on a dateand time on which the authentication key distributed by the key sharingservice is available, from the key sharing management unit 3207. Theschedule management unit 3205 acquires the use schedule of the vehicle10A by each of the vehicle cabin delivery service and the C2C carsharing service from the delivery management server 50 and the C2C carsharing management server 70 via the communication processing unit 3201.The schedule management unit 3205 generates information on the useschedule of the vehicle 10A (vehicle use schedule information) over aplurality of services based on the acquired use schedule of the vehicle10A regarding the various services, and updates the vehicle use scheduleinformation stored in the storage unit 3200.

The registration management unit 3206 performs registration of theregular user (the sub-user) who uses various services according to theuser registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of theowner user by the communication processing unit 3201. For example, theregistration management unit 3206 collates the owner user ID andpassword included in the user registration request from the mobileterminal 20Aa with the owner user ID and password stored in the storageunit 3200, and determines that the user registration request is aregular user registration request when both match. That is, theregistration management unit 3206 determines that the authentication issuccessful. The registration management unit 3206 registers the sub-userID included in the regular user registration request in a user serviceregistration information database (DB) in the storage unit 3200 as theregular user who can use various services.

The registration management unit 3206 performs registration of use ofvarious services by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to theservice use registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aaof the owner user by the communication processing unit 3201. That is,according to the service use registration request, the registrationmanagement unit 3206 performs registration of an authentication keyarrangement authority of the key sharing management unit 3207 or theservice management server 40 corresponding to various services to allowthe user of the vehicle 10A to use various services. For example, theregistration management unit 3206 performs the same authenticationprocessing as described above based on the owner user ID and thepassword included in the service use registration request from themobile terminal 20Aa to determine whether the service use registrationrequest is a regular service use registration request. When the serviceuse registration request is a regular service use registration request,the registration management unit 3206 determines whether or not theregular user ID included in the service use registration request hasalready been registered in the user service registration information DB.When the regular user ID included in the service use registrationrequest has already been registered in the user service registrationinformation DB, the registration management unit 3206 registers theservice of a target specified by the service use registration request inthe user service registration information database (DB) in the storageunit 3200 as a service available to the regular user corresponding tothe regular user ID.

Specifically, the registration management unit 3206 constructs a userservice registration information DB in an aspect in whichservice-specific information for specifying a target service,vehicle-specific information for specifying the vehicle 10A, a regularuser ID for specifying a regular user who uses the service, and servicelink information in which the vehicle-specific information correspondingto the vehicle 10A and the regular user ID are associated with thetarget service is linked to the owner user ID.

The service-specific information is, for example, a service ID that isdefined for each service. Specifically, for example, when there is aplurality of companies providing the C2C car sharing service, a uniqueservice ID is defined for each of the companies. For example, when thesame company provides a plurality of C2C car sharing services, a uniqueID is defined for each of the services provided by the same company.When a vehicle cabin delivery service is provided by a combination of aplurality of delivery companies and a plurality of EC companies, aunique service ID may be defined for each combination of the deliverycompany and the EC company, and the target service may be specified by acombination of the unique service ID defined for each of the deliverycompanies and a unique service ID defined for each of the EC companies.

The vehicle-specific information may be any information as long as theinformation is able to specify the vehicle 10A that is a target oflocking, unlocking, or activation using the authentication key. Forexample, the vehicle-specific information may be identificationinformation such as a vehicle ID or a vehicle identification number(VIN), which is defined for each vehicle 10A. For example, thevehicle-specific information may be identification information such as akey unit ID, which is defined for each in-vehicle device related tolocking, unlocking, or activation of the doors based on theauthentication key mounted on the vehicle 10A such as the key unit 12.Hereinafter, description will be given on the premise that thevehicle-specific information is the key unit ID.

The service link information is information needed for the key sharingmanagement unit 3207, the delivery management server 50, the EC server60, and the C2C car sharing management server 70 managing variousservices to transmit the authentication key arrangement request tothereby cause the authentication key issuance unit 3203 to issue theauthentication key of the vehicle 10A that is a target and distributethe authentication key to the mobile terminal 20 that is a target. Thatis, the authentication key issuance unit 3203 can specify the vehicle10A that is a target of locking, unlocking, or activation using theauthentication key and issue an appropriate authentication key byreceiving the authentication key arrangement request including theservice link information from the key sharing management unit 3207, thedelivery management server 50, the EC server 60, and the C2C car sharingmanagement server 70.

The service link information may be any information as long as thetarget service is associated with the vehicle 10A and the user who usesthe service in the center server 30. For example, the service linkinformation may be a login ID of the regular user at a website for usersof various services corresponding to the key sharing management unit3207, the delivery management server 50, the EC server 60, and the C2Ccar sharing management server 70 (hereinafter referred to as a “servicelogin ID” for convenience). In this case, the service use registrationrequest unit 2307 of the mobile terminal 20Aa transmits the service useregistration request including the service login ID of the regular userthat is a registration target corresponding to the various services tothe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302. Whenthe regular user that is a registration target corresponding to variousservices does not acquire the service login ID, the processing device 23of the mobile terminal 20Aa may activate a predetermined browser andacquire the service login ID of a website of various services.Accordingly, when the user (the regular user of the vehicle 10A) logs into the website at the time of requesting a service that is a target, thedelivery management server 50 or the C2C car sharing management server70 can grasp the service login ID corresponding to the service linkinformation and easily arrange the authentication key regarding theservice provision. Hereinafter, description will be given on the premisethat the service link information on the vehicle cabin delivery serviceand the C2C car sharing service is the service login ID.

In the case of regular users who regularly use a plurality of vehicles10A, the center server 30 can specify the regular user solely by usingthe service login ID, but cannot specify the vehicle 10A. Therefore,information for indirectly specifying the vehicle 10A (for example,information obtained by encrypting the vehicle-specific informationusing a predetermined scheme) in addition to the service login ID may beincluded in the service link information.

When the registration of use of various services has been completed,registration management unit 3206 notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa,20Ab corresponding to the regular users that are registration targetsthat the registration of use of various services has been completed, viathe communication processing unit 3201. When the registration of use ofvarious services has been completed, the registration management unit3206 transmits a service use registration completion notificationincluding the service link information to the key sharing managementunit 3207 or the service management server 40 that performs an operationand management of a service that is a registration target, via thecommunication processing unit 3201.

A notification that the registration of use of various services for themobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab has been completed may be transmitted fromthe service management server 40 that has received the service useregistration completion notification.

When the service use situation request has been received from the mobileterminal 20Aa by the communication processing unit 3201, theregistration management unit 3206 generates the service use situationinformation based on, for example, the vehicle use schedule informationmanaged by the user service registration information DB of the storageunit 3200 or the schedule management unit 3205, and distributes theservice use situation information to the mobile terminal 20Aa via thecommunication processing unit 3201.

The key sharing management unit 3207 performs an operation andmanagement of the key sharing service.

For example, according to the key sharing request received from themobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communication processingunit 3201, the key sharing management unit 3207 performs the arrangementof the authentication key to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Abcorresponding to the regular user ID designated by the key sharingrequest. Specifically, the key sharing management unit 3207 collates theowner user ID and the password included in the key sharing request withthe owner user ID and the password stored in the storage unit 3200, anddetermines that the key sharing request is a regular key sharing requestwhen both match. The key sharing management unit 3207 inquires of theschedule management unit 3205 and determines whether or not there ismismatch, that is, overlapping of the use date and time regarding theuse of the services and the vehicle 10A of the regular users between theuse period information included in the key sharing request and thelatest vehicle use schedule information. When there is no overlapping ofthe use time, the key sharing management unit 3207 sends, to theauthentication key issuance unit 3203, the authentication keyarrangement request including information on the regular userscorresponding to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab that are distributiontargets of the authentication key specified by the information includedin the key sharing request, and the vehicle 10A that is a target oflocking, unlocking, or activation using the authentication key, andauthority information such as a period of time in which theauthentication key is available to the respective mobile terminals 20Aa,20Ab, the number of times the authentication key is available to therespective mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab, unlockable doors, and whether ornot the vehicle can be activated. Accordingly, the authentication keyissuance unit 3203 can specify the regular user IDs corresponding to themobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab that are distribution targets of theauthentication key, and the vehicle 10A that is a target of locking,unlocking, or activation using the authentication key, and issue anappropriate authentication key.

For example, the key sharing management unit 3207 confirms, for example,attribute information (for example, an age or presence or absence of adriving license) of the users of the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab thatare distribution targets of the authentication key that is designated bythe key sharing request, which is stored in the storage unit 3200. Whenthe users of the mobile terminal 20Aa, 20Ab (regular users of thevehicle 10A) that are distribution targets of the authentication key areusers determined to be unable to drive the vehicle 10A, the key sharingmanagement unit 3207 allows an authentication key to which an authorityto be unable to activate the vehicle 10A has been imparted to be issuedto the mobile terminal 20 of the user. The user who cannot drive thevehicle 10A is, for example, a user who has not reached an age at whichthe user can acquire a driver's license or a user who does not acquirethe driver's license. Specifically, the key sharing management unit 3207sends an authentication key arrangement request in which an indicationthat the activation of the vehicle 10A is prohibited is included inauthority information corresponding to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Abcorresponding to the users determined to be unable to drive the vehicle10A, to the authentication key issuance unit 3203. Accordingly, sincethe authentication key issuance unit 3203 can distribute theauthentication key to which the authority to prohibit the activation ofthe vehicle 10A has been imparted, to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab ofthe users who are unable to drive the vehicle 10A, it is possible toimprove safety of the vehicle 10A in the key sharing service.

For example, the key sharing management unit 3207 distributes theauthentication key of the vehicle 10A to the other mobile terminal 20designated by the temporary key sharing request received from the mobileterminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communication processing unit3201 based on the temporary key sharing request. Specifically, the keysharing management unit 3207 specifies the ID of the installing usercorresponding to the other mobile terminal 20 that is a distributiontarget (hereinafter referred to as an “installing user ID”) based on theinstalling user information DB of the key application stored in thestorage unit 3200. The key sharing management unit 3207 sends anauthentication key arrangement request including the specifiedinstalling user ID and information (for example, an issued ID of theauthentication key included in the temporary key sharing request)corresponding to the authentication key designated by the temporary keysharing request to the authentication key issuance unit 3203.Accordingly, the authentication key issuance unit 3203 can specifyanother mobile terminal 20 that is a distribution target based on theinstalling user ID, the issued ID of the authentication key, and thelike, and distribute the authentication key to the other mobile terminal20 via the communication processing unit 3201.

A function of the key sharing management unit 3207 may be transferred toa server (a key sharing management server) outside the center server 30,which may be included in the service management server 40, similar toother services for using the vehicle 10A.

The mobile terminal 20Ab carried by the sub-user includes thecommunication processing unit 2301, the communication processing unit2302, the authentication key acquisition unit 2303, the authenticationrequest unit 2304, the locking and unlocking request unit 2305, and thestorage unit 2300, as described above.

In the embodiment, description will be given on the premise that thefunction of the authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of the mobileterminal 20Ab is available to the sub-user by the key application beingactivated and the user authentication based on bidirectionalcommunication with the center server 30 being successful. Descriptionwill be given on the premise that the user authentication is performedby the center server 30 based on the sub-user ID and the password.Description will be given on the premise that functions of theauthentication request unit 2304 and the locking and unlocking requestunit 2305 of the mobile terminal 20Ab are available to the sub-user bythe key application being activated.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 acquires the authenticationkey distributed from the center server 30 according to the key sharingrequest transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aa to the center server30 via the communication processing unit 2302, as described above.Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ab can lock and unlock the doors ofthe vehicle 10A or activate the vehicle 10A based on the functions ofthe communication processing unit 2301, the authentication request unit2304, and the locking and unlocking request unit 2305. That is, thesub-user carrying the mobile terminal 20Ab can directly use the vehicle10A through the key sharing service. For example, the sub-user can lockand unlock the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Ab withoutperforming key exchange with the owner user and drive the vehicle 10A.Similarly, the owner user can lend the vehicle 10A to the sub-userwithout exchanging the key with the sub-user. Accordingly, it ispossible to improve convenience in lending and borrowing of the vehicle10A between the owner user of the vehicle 10A and the sub-user throughthe key sharing service in the authentication key management system 1.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 acquires the authenticationkey that is distributed from the center server 30 according to thetemporary key sharing request transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aato the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 2302, asdescribed above. The same applies to a case where the authentication keyis distributed to another mobile terminal 20 other than the mobileterminal 20Ab of the sub-user according to the temporary key sharingrequest. Accordingly, the other mobile terminal 20 including the mobileterminal 20Ab can lock and unlock the doors of the vehicle 10A oractivate the vehicle 10A based on the functions of the communicationprocessing unit 2301, the authentication request unit 2304, and thelocking and unlocking request unit 2305. That is, for example, when aplurality of persons including other regular users gets on the vehicle10A together and goes out and even when the sub-user carrying the mobileterminal 20Ab does not acquire the authentication key in advance, thesub-user does not have to borrow the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab towhich the authentication key has already been distributed, and candirectly use the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Ab, such aslocking and unlocking the vehicle 10A or driving the vehicle 10A.Similarly, even when the owner user has not caused the mobile terminal20Ab of the sub-user to acquire the authentication key, it is not neededfor the owner user to lend the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user tothe sub-user. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the user'sconvenience when a plurality of persons including the regular user ofthe vehicle 10A gets on the vehicle 10A together and uses the vehicle10A through the temporary key sharing in the authentication keymanagement system 1.

Details of Configuration Regarding Vehicle Cabin Delivery Service

A configuration regarding the vehicle cabin delivery service in theauthentication key management system 1 will be described with referenceto FIG. 4 .

FIG. 4 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a vehicle cabin delivery service in the authentication keymanagement system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding thevehicle cabin delivery service in the authentication key managementsystem 1 will be mainly described with reference to FIG. 4 , andduplicate description on the configuration overlapping the abovedescribed configuration regarding the key sharing service will beomitted as much as possible.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit2302, the user registration request unit 2306, the service useregistration request unit 2307, the service use situation request unit2308, and the storage unit 2300, as described above.

The user registration request unit 2306 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user (a sub-user) of the vehicle 10A who usesvarious services including the vehicle cabin delivery service accordingto a predetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The service use registration request unit 2307 requests the centerserver 30 to perform the registration of use of various servicesincluding the vehicle cabin delivery service for each registered regularuser (the owner user or the sub-user) according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the owner user, as described above.

For example, the service use registration request unit 2307 transmits,as the service link information, a service use registration request forusing the vehicle cabin delivery service including a service login ID ofa website for a user who uses the service of the delivery managementserver 50 (hereinafter referred to as a “delivery site”) and a servicelogin ID of the EC site, which corresponds to the regular user of thevehicle 10A that is a registration target, to the center server 30.

The service use situation request unit 2308 requests the center server30 to provide information on a use situation of various services(service use situation information) including the vehicle cabin deliveryservice of the regular user of the vehicle 10A for which the useregistration has been performed, in a form corresponding to the owneruser ID according to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user, asdescribed above.

The delivery management server 50 that performs an operation of thevehicle cabin delivery service includes a communication device 51 and aprocessing device 52.

The communication device 51 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20, the center server 30,and the EC server 60 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 52 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 521, a service cooperation registration unit 522, adelivery reception unit 523, and a delivery management unit 524 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 52 includes a storage unit 520 that is realized as astorage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

The communication processing unit 521 controls the communication device51 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20, the center server 30, and the EC server 60.

The service cooperation registration unit 522 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the vehicle cabin delivery service of the regular user of thevehicle 10A and the delivery management server 50 according to theservice use registration completion notification received from thecenter server 30 by the communication processing unit 521.

For example, the service cooperation registration unit 522 adds a flagindicating a use target of the vehicle cabin delivery service to theservice login ID (a part of service link information) included in theservice use registration completion notification in the user managementDB that manages the user of the delivery site constructed in the storageunit 520. In addition, the service cooperation registration unit 522performs registration in an aspect in which information for specifyingthe vehicle 10A included in the service link information and a servicelogin ID of a website (that is, the EC site) corresponding to the ECserver 60 included in the service use registration completionnotification is linked to the service login ID included in the serviceuse registration completion notification in the user management DB ofthe storage unit 520. Accordingly, when the user corresponding to theservice login ID regularly uses the vehicles 10A, the deliverymanagement server 50 transmits an authentication key arrangement requestto the center server 30 for the vehicle 10A designated by the user. Whenan order reception including a service login ID is received from the ECserver 60 by the communication processing unit 521, the deliverymanagement server 50 can specify the corresponding service login ID ofthe delivery site. The delivery management server 50 transmits theauthentication key arrangement request including service linkinformation such as the specified service login ID or information forspecifying the vehicle 10A corresponding to the vehicle 10A designatedby the user to the center server 30 such that it is possible to causethe authentication key to be distributed from the center server 30 tothe mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer, as described below.

The delivery reception unit 523 receives information (delivery requestinformation) on the package delivery request including the service loginID of the EC site corresponding to an orderer of the product at the ECsite from the EC server 60 via the communication processing unit 521.The delivery request information received from the EC server 60 includesinformation on a designated delivery destination (delivery destinationinformation), information on a designated delivery date and time(delivery date and time information), and the like in addition to basicinformation such as a name, an address, and a telephone number of theorderer that is a delivery destination.

The delivery management unit 524 performs an operation and management ofeach processing from reception to delivery regarding the deliveryrequest received by the delivery reception unit 523.

For example, when the delivery management unit 524 receives anotification that package has reached a business office that hasjurisdiction over a parking position of the vehicle 10A designated bythe delivery destination information of the delivery request frombusiness office via the communication processing unit 521, the deliverymanagement unit 524 decides a date and time of departure for delivery ofthe package, a deliverer in charge, and the like according to adesignated delivery date and time (a delivery date and time slot).

Subsequently, when the preparation of departure is started for thedelivery of the package of which the deliverer is in charge and whichincludes a package that is a target (for example, 30 minutes to one hourbefore departure for the delivery of the package that is a target), thedelivery management unit 524 transmits a preparation start notificationto the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 521. Inthis case, the preparation start notification may include theinformation for specifying the package that is a target, and when thepackage having the delivery destination set to each trunk of thevehicles of which the deliverer is in charge is included, theinformation that specifies the package corresponding to each deliverydestination may be included.

Subsequently, the delivery management unit 524 inquires of the centerserver 30 about the position information of the vehicle 10A via thecommunication processing unit 521 before departure for the delivery ofthe package that is a target (for example, 10 minutes before thedeparture). The delivery management unit 524 acquires current positioninformation of the vehicle 10A from the center server 30 via thecommunication processing unit 521 and determines whether or not thedelivery is available from whether or not the current position matchesthe designated parking position of the vehicle 10A, a relationshipbetween the current position and a jurisdiction area, or the like.

The determination as to whether or not the delivery is available may bemade by the center server 30.

Subsequently, when the delivery management unit 524 determines that thedelivery can be performed with respect to the package that is a target,the delivery management unit 524 transmits a notification that thepackage can be delivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A (deliveryavailable notification) to the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer viathe communication processing unit 521.

Subsequently, when an authentication key acquisition request is receivedfrom the mobile terminal 20Ac that has received the delivery availablenotification by the communication processing unit 521, the deliverymanagement unit 524 determines whether or not the authentication keyacquisition request is a regular authentication key acquisition request.Specifically, the delivery management unit 524 may perform thedetermination by collating information on package that is a deliverytarget (hereinafter referred to as “delivery package information” forconvenience) such as a deliverer, a destination (for example, a name ofa recipient or a corporate name), a type of package, a delivery timeslot, and a delivery destination that can be included in theauthentication key acquisition request, with various types ofinformation on the package registered in the storage unit 520. When thedelivery management unit 524 determines that the authentication keyacquisition request is a regular authentication key acquisition request,the delivery management unit 524 transmits an authentication keyarrangement request to the center server 30 via the communicationprocessing unit 521. When the delivery management unit 524 transmits theauthentication key arrangement request to the center server 30,information for specifying the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer maybe included in the authentication key arrangement request. Theinformation for specifying the deliverer may be, for example, anauthentication ID for obtaining user authentication at the center server30 in order for the deliverer to use the function of the key applicationcorresponding to the authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of themobile terminal 20Ac or the like (hereinafter referred to as a“deliverer ID” for convenience). Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Acof the deliverer can acquire the authentication key from the centerserver 30. Further, the information for specifying the package that is atarget is included in the authentication key arrangement request.

Subsequently, the delivery management unit 524 receives an inquiry aboutthe current position of the vehicle 10A from the mobile terminal 20Ac ofthe deliverer who has left for the delivery from the business office viathe communication processing unit 521, the delivery management unit 524inquires of the center server 30 about the current position informationof the vehicle 10A. The delivery management unit 524 acquires thecurrent position information of the vehicle 10A from the center server30 via the communication processing unit 521 and transmits (transfers)the current position information of the vehicle 10A to the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer. Accordingly, the deliverer who has goneout can compare the current position information of the vehicle 10A withthe information on the parking position of the vehicle 10A designated bythe delivery destination information and determine whether to deliverthe package or return to the business office.

Finally, when the delivery management unit 524 receives a deliverycompletion notification received from the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer who has completed the delivery of the package via thecommunication processing unit 521, the delivery management unit 524transmits the delivery completion notification to the center server 30via the communication processing unit 521 and basically ends anoperation and management regarding the vehicle cabin delivery serviceregarding the package. When the operation and management regarding thevehicle cabin delivery service regarding the package basically ends, thedelivery management unit 524 may notify the regular user of the vehicle10A that is a requester (a purchaser of a product at the EC site)through an electronic mail or a predetermined application cooperatingwith the delivery site installed in the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab thatthe delivery has been completed.

Instead of the center server 30, the delivery management unit 524 maydirectly acquire (receive) the delivery completion notification or theinformation corresponding to the delivery completion notification (forexample, the capture image inside the trunk of the vehicle 10A at thetime of the delivery captured by the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer at the time of the delivery described later) from the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer. Further, according to the unlockingrequest and the locking request from the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer, the DCM 14 of the vehicle 10A may determine the deliverycompletion by the deliverer when the door (the trunk lid or the like)that allows the access to the trunk of the vehicle 10A is locked afterthe door is unlocked, and notify the center server 30 of the deliverycompletion by the deliverer, as described above. Accordingly, the centerserver 30 can transmit the delivery completion notification to thedelivery management server 50 when the notification is received. Thatis, the center server 30 may transmit the delivery completionnotification to the delivery management server 50 according to thenotification which is received from the vehicle 10A and indicates thatthe delivery by the deliverer has been completed.

The EC server 60 includes a communication device 61 and a processingdevice 62.

The communication device 61 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20, the center server 30,and the delivery management server 50 over a predetermined communicationnetwork.

The processing device 62 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 621, a web resource transmission unit 622, a servicecooperation registration unit 623, and an order reception processingunit 624 as functional units that are realized by executing one or moreprograms stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU.The processing device 62 includes a storage unit 620 that is realized asa storage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

The communication processing unit 621 controls the communication device61 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20, the center server 30, and the delivery management server50.

The web resource transmission unit 622 transmits resources correspondingto the webpage to be displayed on a browser of any terminal of the userbrowsing the EC site including the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab based onvarious types of information as resources of the EC site stored in thestorage unit 620 to the browser of the terminal using a predeterminedscheme. Atop page displayed in the EC site, a webpage corresponding toan individual product handled at the EC site, an order input page forthe user to input various types of information at the time of orderingan individual product, and the like are included in the webpage on theEC site. For example, the web resource transmission unit 622 transmits aHyper Text Markup Language (HTML) document corresponding to a webpage,and information under the HTML document such as an image and a movingimage displayed on webpages in parallel.

The service cooperation registration unit 623 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the vehicle cabin delivery service of the regular user of thevehicle 10A and the EC server 60 according to the service useregistration completion notification received from the center server 30by the communication processing unit 621. For example, the servicecooperation registration unit 623 adds a flag indicating a use target ofthe vehicle cabin delivery service to the service login ID included inthe service use registration completion notification in the usermanagement DB that manages the user of the EC site constructed in thestorage unit 620. In addition, the service cooperation registration unit623 performs registration in an aspect in which a service login ID of awebsite (that is, the delivery site) corresponding to the deliverymanagement server 50 included in the service use registration completionnotification is linked to the service login ID included in the serviceuse registration completion notification in the user management DB.Accordingly, for example, when an inquiry about an ordered productincluding the service login ID of the delivery site is received from thedelivery management server 50 by the communication processing unit 621,the EC server 60 can specify the service login ID of the correspondingEC site.

The order reception processing unit 624 receives an order of productsfrom the user based on various manipulation inputs corresponding to theorder of the product of the user at the EC site. When the orderreception processing unit 624 receives an order and the trunk of thevehicle 10A is selected as a delivery destination on an order input pageof the EC site, the order reception processing unit 624 inquires thecenter server 30 about the vehicle use schedule information via thecommunication processing unit 621. Accordingly, the order receptionprocessing unit 624 can acquire the latest vehicle use scheduleinformation via the communication processing unit 621. Therefore, forexample, when a designated date and time of delivery has alreadyoverlapped another schedule, the order reception processing unit 624 cantake countermeasures such as requesting to change a delivery date andtime.

As described above, the vehicle cabin delivery service in which packageother than an ordered product at the EC site is a target can also beassumed. In this case, the delivery management server 50 may similarlyacquire the latest vehicle use schedule information from the centerserver 30. Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can takecountermeasures such as requesting to change a delivery date and timewhen a date and time of delivery of the package to the trunk of thevehicle 10A designated by the regular user of the vehicle 10A hasalready overlapped another schedule.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 that support of anoperation of the vehicle cabin delivery service includes thecommunication processing unit 3201, the condition determination unit3202, the authentication key issuance unit 3203, the positioninformation management unit 3204, the schedule management unit 3205, theregistration management unit 3206, and the storage unit 3200, asdescribed above. The processing device 32 of the center server 30 (anexample of the information processing device) includes a trunkaccommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208, anaccommodation amount determination unit 3209, and a trunk accommodationsituation notification unit 3210 as functional units realized byexecuting one or more programs stored in the ROM of the server computeror the auxiliary storage device on the CPU.

When the condition determination unit 3202 receives the authenticationkey arrangement request from the delivery management server 50 via thecommunication processing unit 3201, the condition determination unit3202 determines whether or not the authentication key arrangementrequest is a regular authentication key arrangement request. Forexample, the condition determination unit 3202 determines whether or notthe authentication key arrangement request is the regular authenticationkey arrangement request based on service login information (the servicelogin ID of the delivery site or the like) included in theauthentication key arrangement request or predetermined authenticationinformation (for example, the ID and the password) corresponding to thedelivery management server 50.

When the condition determination unit 3202 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 3203 issuesthe authentication key corresponding to the authentication keyarrangement request and distributes the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer.

In detail, the authentication key issuance unit 3203 specifies thevehicle 10A corresponding to the authentication key arrangement requestbased on the user service registration information DB of the storageunit 3200. The authentication key issuance unit 3203 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely in units of several minutes to tens of minutes fromthe distribution), the number of times of use is limited (for example,the number of times of use is solely one), and an authority is limitedso that solely locking and unlocking of the trunk lid can be allowed.Accordingly, it is possible to suppress unauthorized use of the vehicle10A by the deliverer and to improve security. The authentication keyissuance unit 3203 distributes the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer specified by the authentication keyarrangement request via the communication processing unit 3201.

For example, any method such as a known mathematical method or a methodbased on bidirectional communication between the center server 30 andthe vehicle 10 may be adopted as a method of limiting a period of timein which the authentication key is available or the number of times theauthentication key is used.

In response to the inquiry about the current position of the vehicle 10Afrom the delivery management server 50 received by the communicationprocessing unit 3201, the position information management unit 3204, forexample, acquires the position information from the vehicle 10A via thecommunication processing unit 3201 and provides (transmits) the positioninformation of the vehicle 10A to the delivery management server 50 viathe communication processing unit 3201.

The schedule management unit 3205 replies the EC server 60 with thelatest vehicle use schedule information stored in the storage unit 3200via the communication processing unit 3201 according to the inquiry fromthe EC server 60 received by the communication processing unit 3201.

The registration management unit 3206 performs registration of theregular user (the sub-user) who uses various services including thevehicle cabin delivery service according to the user registrationrequest received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by thecommunication processing unit 3201, as described above. The registrationmanagement unit 3206 performs registration of use of the vehicle cabindelivery service by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to theservice use registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aaof the owner user by the communication processing unit 3201, asdescribed above. When the registration of use of various servicesincluding the vehicle cabin delivery service has been completed, theregistration management unit 3206 notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa,20Ab corresponding to the regular users that are registration targetsthat the registration of use of various services including the vehiclecabin delivery service has been completed via the communicationprocessing unit 3201, as described above. When the registration of useof the vehicle cabin delivery service has been completed, theregistration management unit 3206 transmits the service use registrationcompletion notification including the service link information to thedelivery management server 50 and the EC server 60 that perform anoperation and management of a service that is a registration target viathe communication processing unit 3201.

The trunk accommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208 (anexample of the information acquisition unit) acquires informationrelated to the accommodation situation of the object accommodated in thetrunk of the vehicle 10A which is the delivery destination of thepackage that is a target (hereinafter referred to as a “trunkaccommodation situation information”).

For example, as will be described below, the trunk accommodationsituation information acquisition unit 3208 acquires the capture imageof the trunk which is captured by the camera 25 of the mobile terminal20Ac of the deliverer at the time of the delivery of the latest packageto the trunk of the vehicle 10A and is uploaded to the center server 30(hereinafter referred to as a “trunk image at the time of the delivery”)from the storage unit 3200.

Further, for example, the trunk accommodation situation informationacquisition unit 3208 acquires detection information which is outputfrom a predetermined sensor equipped in the trunk of the vehicle 10A,and is related to the accommodation situation of the object accommodatedin the trunk (hereinafter referred to as a “sensor detection informationon the inside of the trunk”) from the vehicle 10A via the communicationprocessing unit 3201. In this case, the sensor may include various typesof sensors capable of detecting the object inside the trunk such as thecamera (an image sensor) and an ultrasonic sensor.

Further, for example, the trunk accommodation situation informationacquisition unit 3208 acquires information on a request history of thepackage having the trunk of the vehicle 10A as the delivery destination(hereinafter, referred to as a “request history information”) from thedelivery management server 50 via the communication processing unit3201. The accommodation situation of the object currently accommodatedin the trunk of the vehicle 10A can be estimated from a requestfrequency in the latest predetermined period or the like based on therequest history of the package. Further, for example, the trunkaccommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208 may acquireinformation on an opening history of the door that allows the access tothe trunk of the vehicle 10A that is a target by the user of the vehiclecabin delivery service (hereinafter, referred to as a “door openinghistory information”) from the storage unit 3200. The currentaccommodation situation of the trunk can be estimated, by grasping ofthe number of the delivered package or the like after a user's finalopening of the door that allows the access to the trunk of the vehicle10A based on the request history of the package in the latestpredetermined period, and the user's unlocking history. In this case,when the vehicle 10A is unlocked by the unlocking requests or the liketransmitted from the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab of the regular usersand the door that allows the access to the trunk is opened, the DCM 14of the vehicle 10A transmits, to the center server 30, a notificationwhich includes the information for specifying the regular user that is atarget and indicates that the door allowing the access to the trunk isopened (hereinafter, referred to as a “trunk door openingnotification”). Further, the DCM 14 of the vehicle 10A may transmit thetrunk door opening notification to the center server 30, solely when thevehicle 10A is within a predetermined range in a vicinity of the home(for example, within a 100 meter range) registered in advance by theregular user. Accordingly, the center server 30 can store the openinghistory of the trunk by the regular users of the vehicle 10A in thestorage unit 3200.

Based on the trunk accommodation situation information acquired by thetrunk accommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208, theaccommodation amount determination unit 3209 determines whetheraccommodation amount of the object accommodated in the trunk of thevehicle 10A exceeds a predetermined criterion such that the delivery(accommodation) of an additional package is determined not to bepossible (that is, trunk is full). The accommodation amount may be anamount corresponding to volumes of the objects accommodated inside thetrunk of the vehicle 10A, for example. The accommodation amount may bean amount corresponding to the number of the objects accommodated insidethe trunk of the vehicle 10A, for example, and in this case, for anobject of which a size (a length, the volume, or the like) exceeds thepredetermined criterion, a mode in which a conversion into a pluralityof objects is applied may be used. Further, the predetermined criterionmay vary in consideration of the trunk capacity of the vehicle 10A thatis a target, or a type of the vehicle or the like.

Based on the trunk accommodation situation information acquired by thetrunk accommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208, thetrunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210 (an example of theaccommodation situation notification unit) notifies the user of thevehicle cabin delivery service (the regular user of the vehicle 10A) ofthe accommodation situation of the object accommodated in the trunk.

Details of the operation of the trunk accommodation situationinformation acquisition unit 3208, the accommodation amountdetermination unit 3209, and the trunk accommodation situationnotification unit 3210 will be described below (see FIGS. 9 to 11 ).

Some or all of various functions of the center server 30 regarding thevehicle cabin delivery service, that is, functions of the conditiondetermination unit 3202, the authentication key issuance unit 3203, theposition information management unit 3204, the schedule management unit3205, the registration management unit 3206, the trunk accommodationsituation information acquisition unit 3208, the accommodation amountdetermination unit 3209, and the trunk accommodation situationnotification unit 3210 may be transferred to the delivery managementserver 50 (an example of the information processing device). Forexample, the center server 30 may perform solely the distribution of theauthentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ac, the management of theposition information of the vehicle 10A, the management of the useschedule of the vehicle 10A, the use registration of the vehicle cabindelivery service, the acquisition of the trunk accommodation situationinformation, or the like, and at least one function of the accommodationamount determination unit 3209 and the trunk accommodation situationnotification unit 3210 may be transferred to the delivery managementserver 50. Further, for example, the center server 30 may perform solelythe distribution of the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ac,the management of the position information of the vehicle 10A, themanagement of the use schedule of the vehicle 10A, the use registrationof the vehicle cabin delivery service, or the like and the function ofthe trunk accommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208 maybe further transferred to the delivery management server 50. Further,for example, the center server 30 may perform solely the distribution ofthe authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer, orthe like, and the functions regarding the vehicle cabin delivery serviceof the position information management unit 3204, the schedulemanagement unit 3205 and the registration management unit 3206 may befurther transferred to the delivery management server 50. Further, forexample, all of the respective functions of the center server 30regarding the vehicle cabin delivery service may be transferred to thedelivery management server 50. That is, the delivery management server50 may be configured to perform the distribution of the authenticationkey to the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer (that is, the functionsof the condition determination unit 3202 and the authentication keyissuance unit 3203), the management of the position information of thevehicle 10A (that is, the function of the position informationmanagement unit 3204), the management of the use schedule of the vehicle10A in the vehicle cabin delivery service (that is, the function of theschedule management unit 3205), the registration of use of the vehiclecabin delivery service (that is, the function of the registrationmanagement unit 3206), the acquisition of the trunk accommodationsituation information (that is, the function of the trunk accommodationsituation information acquisition unit 3208), the determination on theaccommodation amount of the object accommodated in the trunk of thevehicle 10A (that is, the function of the accommodation amountdetermination unit 3209), the accommodation situation notification ofthe object accommodated in the trunk to the user (that is, the functionof the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210), or thelike.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ac of the delivererincludes the communication processing unit 2301, the communicationprocessing unit 2302, the authentication key acquisition unit 2303, theauthentication request unit 2304, the locking and unlocking request unit2305, and the storage unit 2300, as described above. Further, theprocessing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ac of the delivererincludes, for example, an imaging unit 2310, an image transmission unit2311, and an image deletion unit 2312 as functional units that arerealized by executing one or more programs stored in the ROM or theauxiliary storage device on the CPU.

In the embodiment, the description will be given on the premise that thefunctions of the authentication key acquisition unit 2303, theauthentication request unit 2304, and the locking, unlocking requestunit 2305, the imaging unit 2310, the image transmission unit 2311, andthe image deletion unit 2312, of the mobile terminal 20Ac are availableto the deliverer by the key application being activated.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 transmits theauthentication key acquisition request to the delivery management server50 via the communication processing unit 2302 according to apredetermined manipulation by the deliverer. In this case, theauthentication key acquisition request includes the above describeddelivery package information stored in the storage unit 2300 in advance.Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 transmits anauthentication key arrangement request to the center server 30 accordingto the authentication key acquisition request, the center server 30distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ac accordingto the authentication key arrangement request, and the mobile terminal20Ac can acquire the authentication key. Therefore, the mobile terminal20Ac can lock and unlock the trunk lid of the vehicle 10A based on thefunctions of the communication processing unit 2301, the authenticationrequest unit 2304, and the locking and unlocking request unit 2305 suchthat the deliverer can deliver the requested package to the trunk of thevehicle 10A, lock the trunk of the vehicle 10A, and leave.

The imaging unit 2310 causes the trunk of the vehicle 10A at the time ofthe delivery completion of the package to be imaged by the delivererusing the camera 25. For example, when the unlock completionnotification of the door that allows the access to the trunk is receivedfrom the vehicle 10A (the key unit 12) (that is, when the door thatallows the access to the trunk of the vehicle 10A is unlocked), theimaging unit 2310 cause an imaging instruction screen that provides aninstruction to image the state of the trunk of the vehicle 10A to bedisplayed via the communication processing unit 2301. The imaging unit2310 images the trunk of the vehicle 10A according to the predeterminedmanipulation of the deliverer on the imaging instruction screen usingthe camera 25. The trunk image at the time of the delivery captured bythe imaging unit 2310 is stored in the storage unit 2300.

The camera 25 of the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer may be setunusable as long as there is no imaging instruction by the imaging unit2310. Accordingly, for example, it is possible to reduce a situation inwhich an image regarding the vehicle 10A but not about the trunk iscaptured and to take account of the user's privacy.

When the trunk image at the time of the delivery is captured by theimaging unit 2310, the image transmission unit 2311 transmits thecaptured trunk image at the time of the delivery to the center server 30via the communication processing unit 2302. Accordingly, the centerserver 30 can acquire the trunk image at the time of the delivery.

The image deletion unit 2312 deletes the trunk image at the time of thedelivery stored in the storage unit 2300 according to the predeterminedcondition.

Details of the operation of the imaging unit 2310, image transmissionunit 2311, and the image deletion unit 2312 will be described below (seeFIGS. 7 and 8 ).

Details of Configuration Regarding C2C Car Sharing Service

A configuration regarding a C2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1 will be described with referenceto FIG. 5 .

FIG. 5 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding the C2C car sharing service in the authentication keymanagement system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the C2Ccar sharing service in the authentication key management system 1 willbe mainly described with respect to FIG. 5 , and duplicate descriptionon the configuration overlapping the above described configurationregarding the key sharing service or the like will be omitted as much aspossible.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit2302, the user registration request unit 2306, the service useregistration request unit 2307, and the service use situation requestunit 2308, as described above.

The user registration request unit 2306 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user (a sub-user) of the vehicle 10A who usesvarious services including the C2C car sharing service according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The service use registration request unit 2307 requests the centerserver 30 to perform the registration of use of various servicesincluding the C2C car sharing service for each registered regular user(the owner user or the sub-user) according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the owner user, as described above.

For example, the service use registration request unit 2307 transmits,as the service link information, a service use registration request forusing the C2C car sharing service including a service login ID of awebsite for a user who uses the C2C car sharing service corresponding tothe C2C car sharing management server 70 (hereinafter referred to as a“C2C car sharing site”), which corresponds to the regular user of thevehicle 10A that is a registration target, to the center server 30.

The service use situation request unit 2308 requests the center server30 to provide information on a use situation of various services(service use situation information) including the C2C car sharingservice of the regular user of the vehicle 10A for which the useregistration has been performed, in a form corresponding to the owneruser ID according to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user, asdescribed above.

The C2C car sharing management server 70 includes a communication device71 and a processing device 72.

The communication device 71 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20 and the center server30 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 72 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 721, a service cooperation registration unit 722, areservation management unit 723, and a vehicle management unit 724 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 72 includes a storage unit 720 that is realized as astorage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

Description will be given on the premise that the information forspecifying the vehicle 10A that is a lending target has already beenregistered (stored) in the storage unit 720 in an aspect in which theinformation is linked to the service login ID via the C2C car sharingsite by the regular user (the owner user) of the vehicle 10A.

The communication processing unit 721 controls the communication device71 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20 and the center server 30.

The service cooperation registration unit 722 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the C2C car sharing service of the regular user of the vehicle10A and the C2C car sharing management server 70 according to theservice use registration completion notification received from thecenter server 30 by the communication processing unit 721.

For example, the service cooperation registration unit 722 adds a flagindicating a lender of the vehicle 10A the C2C car sharing service tothe service login ID included in the service use registration completionnotification in the user management DB that manages the user of the C2Ccar sharing site constructed in the storage unit 720. The C2C carsharing management server 70 transmits the authentication keyarrangement request including the service login ID corresponding to theregular user of the vehicle 10A, which is the lender, to the centerserver 30 such that it is possible to cause the authentication key to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ad of theborrower, as described below.

The reservation management unit 723 manages reservation of use of thevehicle 10A that is performed through the C2C car sharing site or thelike.

For example, the reservation management unit 723 receives registrationof a date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentable from the regularuser of the vehicle 10A through the C2C car sharing site and registers(stores) the received date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentablein the storage unit 720. When the date and time on which the vehicle 10Ais rentable is stored (registered) in the storage unit 720, thereservation management unit 723 inquires of the center server 30 aboutthe vehicle use schedule information via the communication processingunit 721. Accordingly, the reservation management unit 723 can acquirethe latest vehicle use schedule information via the communicationprocessing unit 721. Therefore, the C2C car sharing management server70, for example, can take countermeasures such as requesting to changethe date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentable, which isreceived from the regular user of the vehicle 10A, or registering aportion excluding an overlapping portion from the date and time on whichthe vehicle 10A is rentable as the date and time on which the vehicle10A is rentable when the received date and time on which the vehicle 10Ais rentable already overlaps another schedule or registering.

For example, the reservation management unit 723 receives thereservation of use of the vehicle 10A within a range of the date andtime on which the vehicle 10A is rentable, which is stored in thestorage unit 720. When the reservation management unit 723 receives thereservation of use of the vehicle 10A from a user who is a borrowerthrough the C2C car sharing site, the reservation management unit 723updates information on a lending schedule of the vehicle 10A (lendingschedule information) stored in the storage unit 720.

For example, when the authentication key acquisition request is receivedfrom the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower of the vehicle 10A by thecommunication processing unit 721, the reservation management unit 723determines whether or not the authentication key acquisition request isa regular authentication key acquisition request. Specifically, thereservation management unit 723 may perform the determination based onthe service login ID and the password of the C2C car sharing siteincluded in the authentication key acquisition request, or arelationship regarding the date and time of reservation of use (forexample, within a range of the date and time of reservation of use orless than a predetermined time until a date and time of use start). Whenthe authentication key acquisition request is a regular authenticationkey acquisition request, the reservation management unit 723 transmitsan authentication key arrangement request to the center server 30 viathe communication processing unit 721. When the authentication keyarrangement request is transmitted to the center server 30, informationfor specifying the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower of the vehicle10A is included in the authentication key arrangement request. Theinformation for specifying the borrower of the vehicle 10A may be, forexample, an authentication ID (hereinafter referred to as a “borrowerID” for convenience) for obtaining user authentication in the centerserver 30 in order for the borrower of the vehicle 10A to use a functionof the authentication key acquisition unit 2303 of the mobile terminal20Ad. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower of thevehicle 10A can acquire the authentication key from the center server30.

The vehicle management unit 724 manages the vehicle 10A that is alending target.

For example, the vehicle management unit 724 inquires of the centerserver 30 about a current position information of the vehicle 10A viathe communication processing unit 721 before the date and time ofreservation of use of the vehicle 10A (for example, a period from tensof minutes ago to immediately before). The vehicle management unit 724acquires the current position information of the vehicle 10A repliedfrom the center server 30 according to the inquiry via the communicationprocessing unit 721. Accordingly, a determination can be made as towhether or not the vehicle 10A returns to a designated place before adate and time of lending (a date and time of reservation of use) of thevehicle 10A. Accordingly, when the vehicle 10A does not return to thedesignated place, the C2C car sharing management server 70 can takecountermeasures such as warning the regular user who is a lender of thevehicle 10A so that the vehicle 10A returns to the designated placethrough an email or a predetermined application cooperating with the C2Ccar sharing site, which is installed in the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 3201, the condition determination unit3202, the authentication key issuance unit 3203, the positioninformation management unit 3204, the schedule management unit 3205, theregistration management unit 3206, and the storage unit 3200, asdescribed above.

When the authentication key arrangement request is received from the C2Ccar sharing management server 70 by the communication processing unit3201, the condition determination unit 3202 determines whether or notthe authentication key arrangement request is a regular authenticationkey arrangement request. For example, the condition determination unit3202 determines whether or not the authentication key arrangementrequest is the regular authentication key arrangement request based onthe service link information included in the authentication keyarrangement request (for example, the service login ID of the C2C carsharing site) or predetermined authentication information (for example,the ID and the password) corresponding to the C2C car sharing managementserver 70.

When the condition determination unit 3202 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 3203 specifiesthe vehicle 10A corresponding to the authentication key arrangementrequest based on the user service registration information DB of thestorage unit 3200. The authentication key issuance unit 3203 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely at the date and time of reservation of use of thevehicle 10A included in the authentication key arrangement request andin a buffering period before and after the date and time of reservationof use of the vehicle 10A). The authentication key issuance unit 3203distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ad of theborrower of the vehicle 10A specified by the authentication keyarrangement request via the communication processing unit 3201.

The C2C car sharing service may include, for example, a service(hereinafter referred to as a “vehicle trunk lending service” forconvenience) in an aspect in which solely a trunk of the vehicle 10A islent. In the case of a vehicle trunk lending service, the authenticationkey issuance unit 3203 may issue an authentication key with an authoritylimited so that locking and unlocking of the trunk lid are allowed.Accordingly, it is possible to limit a lending target of C2C car sharingto solely the trunk. By limiting the lending target of the C2C carsharing to solely the trunk, for example, a vehicle cabin deliveryservice in an aspect in which the trunk of the vehicle 10A to be lent ata travel destination is borrowed and a purchased product for use at atravel destination is delivered to the borrowed trunk can be realized.

The position information management unit 3204 transmits a positioninformation request to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 3201 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A received from the C2C car sharing management server 70 bythe communication processing unit 3201. Accordingly, the positioninformation management unit 3204 can acquire the current positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit3201. The position information management unit 3204 replies the C2C carsharing management server 70 with the current position informationacquired from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit3201.

The schedule management unit 3205 transmits the latest vehicle useschedule information to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 3201 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A received from the C2C car sharing management server 70 bythe communication processing unit 3201.

The registration management unit 3206 performs registration of theregular user (the sub-user) who uses various services including the C2Ccar sharing service according to the user registration request receivedfrom the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communicationprocessing unit 3201, as described above. The registration managementunit 3206 performs registration of use of the C2C car sharing service bythe regular user of the vehicle 10A according to the service useregistration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owneruser by the communication processing unit 3201, as described above. Whenthe registration of use of various services including the C2C carsharing service has been completed, the registration management unit3206 notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab corresponding to theregular users that are registration targets that the registration of useof various services including the C2C car sharing service has beencompleted via the communication processing unit 3201, as describedabove. When the registration of use of the C2C car sharing service hasbeen completed, the registration management unit 3206 transmits aservice use registration completion notification including the servicelink information to the C2C car sharing management server 70 thatperforms an operation and management of a service that is a registrationtarget via the communication processing unit 3201.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower ofthe vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit 2301, thecommunication processing unit 2302, the authentication key acquisitionunit 2303, the authentication request unit 2304, the locking andunlocking request unit 2305, and the storage unit 2300, as describedabove.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 transmits an authenticationkey acquisition request to the C2C car sharing management server 70 viathe communication processing unit 2302 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the borrower of the vehicle 10A. When the authenticationkey acquisition request is transmitted, the service login ID of the C2Ccar sharing site corresponding to the borrower of the vehicle 10A isincluded in the authentication key acquisition request. Accordingly, theC2C car sharing management server 70 can transmit an authentication keyarrangement request to the center server 30 according to theauthentication key acquisition request, the center server 30 candistribute the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ad accordingto the authentication key arrangement request, and the mobile terminal20Ad can acquire the authentication key. Therefore, the mobile terminal20Ad can lock and unlock the door of the vehicle 10A based on thefunctions of the communication processing unit 2301, the authenticationrequest unit 2304, and the locking and unlocking request unit 2305. Thatis, the borrower of the vehicle 10A carrying the mobile terminal 20Adcan directly use the vehicle 10A, such as locking and unlocking thevehicle 10A and driving the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Adwithout performing exchange of a key with the regular user of thevehicle 10A through the C2C car sharing service. Similarly, the regularuser of the vehicle 10A can lend the vehicle 10A to another person otherthan the regular user without exchanging the key. Therefore, it ispossible to improve convenience in lending and borrowing of the vehicle10A between the regular user of the vehicle 10A and another person otherthan the regular user through the C2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1.

Details of Configuration Regarding B2C Car Sharing Service

A B2C car sharing service in the authentication key management system 1will be described with reference to FIG. 6 .

FIG. 6 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding the B2C car sharing service in the authentication keymanagement system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the B2Ccar sharing service in the authentication key management system 1 willbe mainly described with respect to FIG. 6 , and duplicate descriptionon the configuration overlapping the above described configurationregarding the key sharing service or the like will be omitted as much aspossible.

The B2C car sharing management server 80 includes a communication device81 and a processing device 82.

The communication device 81 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20B and the center server30 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 82 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 821, a reservation management unit 822, and a vehiclemanagement unit 823 as functional units that are realized by executingone or more programs stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage deviceon the CPU. The processing device 82 includes a storage unit 820 that isrealized as a storage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like ofthe server computer.

The communication processing unit 821 controls the communication device81 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20B and the center server 30.

The reservation management unit 822 manages the reservation of use ofthe vehicle 10B that is performed through the B2C car sharing site orthe like.

For example, the reservation management unit 822 receives reservation ofuse of the vehicle 10B from a user (hereinafter referred to as a“borrower user”) who wants to borrow the vehicle 10B through a websitethat is operated by a company of the B2C car sharing management server80 or the like (hereinafter referred to as a “B2C car sharing site” forconvenience). The reservation management unit 822 stores information onthe received reservation of use of the vehicle 10B (use reservationinformation) in the storage unit 820. When the information on usereservation (use reservation information) is stored in the storage unit820, for example, information for specifying the vehicle 10A that is atarget, information on a date and time of reservation of use (a startdate and time of use and an end date and time of use), and a servicelogin ID of the borrower user in the B2C car sharing site may beincluded in the use reservation information.

For example, the reservation management unit 822 updates the informationon the use schedule of the vehicle 10B (the vehicle use scheduleinformation) stored in the storage unit 820 each time the reservationmanagement unit 822 receives the reservation of use of the vehicle 10B.Accordingly, the B2C car sharing management server 80 can display theuse schedule of the vehicle 10B on the B2C car sharing site to present adate and time when the reservation of use can be made, to the borroweruser.

For example, when the authentication key request is received from themobile terminal 20B by the communication processing unit 821, thereservation management unit 822 determines whether or not theauthentication key request is a regular authentication key request.Specifically, the reservation management unit 822 may perform thedetermination based on the service login ID and the password of the B2Ccar sharing site corresponding to the borrower user included in theauthentication key request, or a relationship regarding the date andtime of reservation of use (for example, within a range of the date andtime of reservation of use or less than a predetermined time until adate and time of use start). When the authentication key request is aregular authentication key acquisition request, the reservationmanagement unit 822 transmits an authentication key arrangement requestto the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 821. Whenthe authentication key arrangement request is transmitted to the centerserver 30, information for specifying the mobile terminal 20B of theborrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B is included in theauthentication key arrangement request. The information for specifyingthe borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B may be, for example, anauthentication ID (hereinafter referred to as a “borrower user ID” forconvenience) for obtaining user authentication in the center server 30in order for the borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B to use afunction of a key application corresponding to the authentication keyacquisition unit 2303 of the mobile terminal 20B or the like.Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20B of the borrower user borrowing thevehicle 10B can acquire the authentication key from the center server30.

The vehicle management unit 823 manages the vehicle 10B that is alending target.

For example, the vehicle management unit 823 inquires of the centerserver 30 about the vehicle 10B parked in the vicinity (for example,within hundreds of meters) of a place designated in the reservation ofuse via the communication processing unit 821 before the date and timeof reservation of use of the vehicle 10B of a borrower user (forexample, before tens of minutes). The vehicle management unit 823acquires the position information of the vehicle 10B parked in thevicinity of the designated place replied from the center server 30according to the inquiry via the communication processing unit 821.Accordingly, the vehicle management unit 823 can specify one or aplurality of vehicles 10B parked around the designated place anddetermine, for example, the vehicle 10B to be lent before the start dateand time of use of the vehicle 10B of the borrower.

For example, the vehicle management unit 823 inquires of the centerserver 30 about the position information of the vehicle 10B in thedesignated area via the communication processing unit 821 according to asearch request of the vehicle 10B in a designated area by the borroweruser at the B2C car sharing site. The vehicle management unit 823acquires the position information of the vehicle 10B in the designatedarea replied from the center server 30 according to the inquiry via thecommunication processing unit 821. Accordingly, the vehicle managementunit 823, for example, can present the position information of thevehicle 10B that is a target to the borrower user who wants to borrowthe vehicle 10B in the designated area immediately at the B2C carsharing site.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 3201, the condition determination unit3202, the authentication key issuance unit 3203, and the storage unit3200, as described above.

When the authentication key arrangement request received from the B2Ccar sharing management server 80 is received by the communicationprocessing unit 3201, the condition determination unit 3202 determineswhether or not the authentication key arrangement request is a regularauthentication key arrangement request. For example, the conditiondetermination unit 3202 determines whether or not the authentication keyarrangement request is the regular authentication key arrangementrequest based on whether or not the borrower user ID included in theauthentication key arrangement request is the authentication ID alreadyregistered in the storage unit 3200, or on predetermined authenticationinformation (for example, an ID and password) corresponding to the B2Ccar sharing management server 80.

When the condition determination unit 3202 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is the regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 3203 issuesthe authentication key in which a time is limited (for example, thevehicle is available solely at the date and time of reservation of useof the vehicle 10B included in the authentication key arrangementrequest and in a buffering period before and after the date and time ofreservation of use of the vehicle 10B). The authentication key issuanceunit 3203 distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Bof the borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B specified by theauthentication key arrangement request via the communication processingunit 3201.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20B of the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B includes the communication processing unit2301, the communication processing unit 2302, the authentication keyacquisition unit 2303, the authentication request unit 2304, the lockingand unlocking request unit 2305, and the storage unit 2300, as describedabove.

The authentication key acquisition unit 2303 transmits an authenticationkey acquisition request to the B2C car sharing management server 80 viathe communication processing unit 2302 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the borrower user of the vehicle 10B. When theauthentication key acquisition request is transmitted, the service loginID of the B2C car sharing site corresponding to the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B is included in the authentication keyacquisition request. Accordingly, the B2C car sharing management server80 can transmit an authentication key arrangement request to the centerserver 30 according to the authentication key acquisition request, thecenter server 30 can distribute the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20B according to the authentication key arrangement request,and the mobile terminal 20B can acquire the authentication key.Therefore, the mobile terminal 20B can lock and unlock the door of thevehicle 10B based on the functions of the communication processing unit2301, the authentication request unit 2304, and the locking andunlocking request unit 2305. That is, the borrower user borrowing thevehicle 10B carrying the mobile terminal 20B can directly use thevehicle 10B, such as locking and unlocking the vehicle 10B and drivingthe vehicle 10B using the mobile terminal 20B without performingexchange of a key with the company of the vehicle 10B through the B2Ccar sharing service. Therefore, it is possible to improve conveniencefor the borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B through the B2C carsharing service in the authentication key management system 1.

Characteristic Operation of Mobile Terminal of Deliverer

With reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 , flow of processing of thecharacteristic operation by the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer,that is, the processing of acquiring the image of the trunk of thevehicle 10A as the delivery destination at the time of the delivery ofthe package (trunk image acquisition processing) will be described.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a first example of thetrunk image acquisition processing by the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer. The processing according to the flowchart is executed whenthe unlocking request is transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Ac ofthe deliverer to the vehicle 10A. Hereinafter, the same applies to theprocessing according to a flowchart of FIG. 8 .

In step S102, the imaging unit 2310 determines whether or not the unlockcompletion notification has been received from the vehicle 10A (the keyunit 12) via the communication processing unit 2301. When the unlockcompletion notification is received from the vehicle 10A, the imagingunit 2310 determines that the vehicle 10A is unlocked and proceeds tostep S104 and, otherwise, repeats the processing until the unlockcompletion notification is received.

For some reason such as a communication failure, the unlock completionnotification may not be received from the vehicle 10A even after sometime has elapsed. In such a case, the imaging unit 2310 may cause thedisplay 24 to manually display a screen for transfer to the imaginginstruction screen in step S104. For example, the imaging unit 2310causes a screen for the deliverer to check whether or not unlocking ofthe vehicle 10A is completed to be displayed, and when a manipulationcorresponding to an answer that unlocking has been completed isperformed, the processing may proceed to step S104.

In step S104, the imaging unit 2310 causes the display 24 to display theimaging instruction screen.

In step S106, the imaging unit 2310 determines whether or not thepredetermined imaging manipulation has been performed by the delivereron the imaging instruction screen and the capture image is checked bythe deliverer. For example, the imaging unit 2310 causes the display 24to display a check screen for checking whether or not there is a problemwith the current capture image after the imaging manipulation by thedeliverer, and determines whether the predetermined manipulation of thedeliverer for checking whether there is no problem has been performed onthe check screen. The imaging unit 2310 proceeds to step S108 when thepredetermined imaging manipulation has been performed by the delivereron the imaging instruction screen and the capture image is checked bythe deliverer, otherwise proceeds to step S110.

The imaging unit 2310 determines whether or not the current captureimage is an appropriate image indicating the situation in the trunk, andthe fact that the current capture image is the appropriate image may beadded to the determination condition in step S106 as “AND condition”.For example, the imaging unit 2310 may apply a known image recognitiontechnique to determine whether or not the current capture image is theappropriate image indicating the situation in the trunk depending onwhether the current capture image corresponds to the trunk, satisfies acondition needed to check the accommodation situation of the trunk (forexample, whether there is no camera shake or the like), or the like.Accordingly, when an image not about the trunk is captured, or an imageis captured, by which the accommodation situation in the trunk cannot bechecked due to the camera shake or the like, the deliverer can capturethe image again.

In step S108, the image transmission unit 2311 transmits the currentlycaptured capture image (that is, the trunk image at the time of thedelivery) to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit2302 to end the current processing. In this case, the image transmissionunit 2311 transmits, to the center server 30, the trunk image at thetime of the delivery, to which other information such as the informationspecifying the package that is a target and information specifying therequester of the package is given.

In step S110, the imaging unit 2310 determines whether or not themanipulation for transmitting the locking request to the vehicle 10A hasbeen performed by the deliverer. The imaging unit 2310 proceeds to stepS112 when the manipulation for transmitting the locking request to thevehicle 10A has been performed by the deliverer, otherwise returns tostep S104.

In step S112, the locking and unlocking request unit 2305 invalidatesthe manipulation of transmitting the locking request by the deliverer tothe vehicle 10A, and the imaging unit 2310 causes the display 24 todisplay a notification screen (an imaging forgetting notificationscreen) notifying that the capturing of the image of the trunk at thetime of the delivery completion is forgotten, and the processing returnsto step S104. Accordingly, even when the deliverer forgets to capturethe image of the trunk and is about to lock the vehicle 10A after thepackage has been accommodated in the trunk of the vehicle 10A, theimaging unit 2310 can make the deliverer recognize that the delivererhas forgotten to image the trunk.

As described above, in the example, at the time of the delivery of thepackage to the trunk of the vehicle 10A (specifically, when the doorthat allows the access to the trunk of the vehicle 10A is unlocked), theprocessing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer cancause the state of the trunk of the vehicle 10A to be imaged by thedeliverer using the camera 25. The processing device 23 can transmit(upload) the capture image (that is, the trunk image at the time of thedelivery) to the center server 30.

As described above, when the functions of the trunk accommodationsituation information acquisition unit 3208 and the trunk accommodationsituation notification unit 3210 of the center server 30 are provided inthe delivery management server 50, the processing device 23 of themobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer transmits the trunk image at thetime of the delivery to the delivery management server 50.

Subsequently, FIG. 8 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a secondexample of the trunk image acquisition processing by the mobile terminal20Ac of the deliverer.

Since processing of steps S202 to S208 is the same as the processing ofsteps S102 to S108 of FIG. 7 , description thereof will be omitted.

After step S208, in step S209, the image deletion unit 2312 deletes thecurrent capture image stored in the internal memory of the processingdevice 23 such as the storage unit 2300 or the like, and the currentprocessing ends.

Since processing of steps S210 and S212 is the same as the processing ofsteps S110 and S112 in FIG. 7 , description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the example, the processing device 23 of themobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer deletes (erases) the currentcapture image stored in the internal memory or the like when the currentcapture image (the trunk image at the time of the delivery) istransmitted to the center server 30. The inside of the trunk of thevehicle 10A is a space that can accommodate a private object or the likeof the regular users of the vehicle 10A, and it is possible to reducethe situation in which the trunk image at the time of the deliveryremains on the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer. That is, theprocessing device 23 can upload the information indicating theaccommodation situation of the object accommodated in the trunk (thetrunk image at the time of delivery) to the center server 30 whilepaying attention to the user's privacy.

Characteristic Operation of Center Server

Next, with reference to FIG. 9 to 11 , the characteristic operation bythe center server 30, that is, the processing flow of processing ofnotifying the user of the vehicle cabin delivery service (the regularuser of the vehicle 10A) of the accommodation situation of the objectaccommodated in the trunk of the vehicle 10A will be described.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a first example of thetrunk accommodation situation notification processing by the centerserver 30. The processing according to this flowchart is repeatedlyexecuted at predetermined processing intervals. Hereinafter, the sameapplies to the processing according to flowcharts of FIGS. 10 and 11 .

In step S302, the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210determines whether or not the trunk image captured at the time of thedelivery completion of the package (the trunk image at the time of thedelivery) has been received from the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer by the communication processing unit 3201. When the trunkimage at the time of the delivery is received from the mobile terminal20Ac of the deliverer, the trunk accommodation situation notificationunit 3210 proceeds to step S304 and, otherwise, the current processingends.

In step S304, the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210(an example of the delivery completion notification unit) transmits thedelivery completion notification, for example, in a mode of a pushnotification using the key application, to the mobile terminal 20 (themobile terminal 20Aa or the mobile terminal 20Ab) of the requester ofthe delivered package (the regular user of the vehicle 10A) which isspecified from the other information given to the received trunk imageat the time of the delivery. Further, the trunk accommodation situationnotification unit 3210 transmits the trunk image at the time of thedelivery to the mobile terminal 20 of the requester of the deliveredpackage in the same manner. In this case, the trunk accommodationsituation notification unit 3210 may transmit the delivery completionnotification and the trunk image at the time of the delivery as onepiece of information at one time, or may separately transmit atdifferent timings.

The trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210 may transmit atleast one of the delivery completion notification and the trunk image atthe time of the delivery to the email address or the predetermined SNSaccount of the requester registered in advance in the storage unit 3200instead of direct transmission to the mobile terminal 20 of therequester. As described above, when the mode is adopted in which thedelivery completion notification is transmitted from the deliverycompany (the delivery management server 50) to the requester, thetransmission of the delivery completion notification is omitted.

In step S306, the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210transmits the delivery completion notification of the package that is atarget to the delivery management server 50 (that is, the deliverycompany) via the communication processing unit 3201, and ends theprocess. Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can checkwhether the package has been appropriately delivered even in a mode inwhich the delivery completion notification is not directly transmittedfrom the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer to the deliverymanagement server 50.

As described above, in the example, when the trunk image at the time ofthe delivery is received from the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer,the center server 30 transmits the trunk image at the time of thedelivery indicating the latest accommodation situation of the objectaccommodated in the trunk of the vehicle 10A to the requester of thedelivered package. Accordingly, the center server 30 can notify the userof the latest accommodation situation of the object accommodated in thetrunk of the vehicle 10A in the mode in which the trunk image at thetime of the delivery is provided to the requester (the user of thevehicle cabin delivery service). Therefore, the center server 30 canmake the user grasp the accommodation situation of the objectaccommodated in the trunk of the vehicle 10A which is the deliverydestination of the vehicle cabin delivery service.

Further, in the example, when the trunk image at the time of thedelivery is received from the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer, thecenter server 30 determines that the package has been delivered andtransmits the delivery completion notification to the requester of thedelivered package. Accordingly, the center server 30 does not need toimpose the manipulation of notifying the delivery company or the likethat the delivery has been completed, for example, other than causingthe state of the trunk to be imaged by the deliverer using the camera25, for example. Therefore, the center server 30 can facilitate acollection of the trunk image at the time of the delivery indicating theaccommodation situation of the object accommodated in the trunk at thetime of delivery completion while reducing the labor of the deliverer.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a second example ofthe trunk accommodation situation notification processing by the centerserver 30.

In step S402, the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210determines whether or not the delivery preparation notification has beenreceived from the delivery management server 50 by the communicationprocessing unit 3201. When the delivery preparation notification isreceived from the delivery management server 50, the trunk accommodationsituation notification unit 3210 proceeds to step S404, otherwise thecurrent processing ends.

In step S404, the trunk accommodation situation information acquisitionunit 3208 acquires the latest trunk accommodation situation informationof the vehicle 10A corresponding to the delivery destination of thepackage specified by the delivery preparation notification. The acquiredtrunk accommodation situation information may include the trunk image atthe time of the delivery, the sensor detection information on the insideof the trunk, the request history information, the door opening historyinformation, or the like as described above.

In step S406, the accommodation amount determination unit 3209 executesthe processing of determining the accommodation amount of the objectaccommodated in the vehicle 10A based on the acquired trunkaccommodation situation information.

In this example, the accommodation amount of the vehicle 10A isdetermined at the timing at which package delivery preparation isstarted, but may be determined at any timing.

In step S408, the accommodation amount determination unit 3209determines whether or not the accommodation amount of the objectaccommodated in the vehicle 10A exceeds the predetermined criterion bywhich the additional package delivery to the trunk can be determined tobe unavailable. When the accommodation amount of the trunk of thevehicle 10A exceeds the predetermined criterion, the accommodationamount determination unit 3209 proceeds to step S410, and otherwise, thecurrent processing ends.

In step S410, the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210transmits, for example, the notification related to the determinationresult that the accommodation amount of the trunk of the vehicle 10Aexceeds the predetermined criterion and the situation is that theadditional package delivery is not possible (an additional deliveryunavailability notification) to the mobile terminal 20 (the mobileterminal 20Aa or the mobile terminal 20Ab) of the requester of thedelivered package (the regular user of the vehicle 10A), via thecommunication processing unit 3201, in the mode of the push notificationusing the key application. Accordingly, the requester of the packagethat is the user of the vehicle cabin delivery service can recognizethat the accommodation amount of trunk of the vehicle 10A exceeds thecriterion such that the additional delivery is not possible.

The trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210 may transmitthe additional delivery unavailability notification to the email addressor the predetermined SNS account of the requester registered in advancein the storage unit 3200 instead of direct transmission to the mobileterminal 20 of the requester. The same applies to the additionaldelivery unavailability notification and the delivery work procedurechange request in step S510 in FIG. 11 to be described later.

In step S412, the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210transmits the additional delivery unavailability notification similar toin step S410 to the delivery management server 50 (that is, the deliverycompany) via the communication processing unit 3201. Accordingly, thedelivery company can recognize that a probability is high that thepackage cannot be delivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A designatedas the delivery destination of the package that is a target. Therefore,the delivery company can postpone (delay) delivery order of the packageor temporarily suspend the delivery work, and thus it is possible tochange the procedure regarding the package delivery work and to suppressthe decrease in the work efficiency of the vehicle cabin deliveryservice.

As described above, when the accommodation amount of the objectaccommodated in the trunk of the vehicle 10A designated as the deliverydestination of the package exceeds the predetermined criterion, thecenter server 30 notifies the user of the vehicle cabin delivery servicethat the accommodation amount of the trunk exceeds the predeterminedcriterion. Accordingly, the center server 30 can notify the user of thevehicle cabin delivery service of the latest accommodation situation ofthe object accommodated in the trunk of the vehicle 10A, specificallythe situation where the accommodation amount of the trunk exceeds thepredetermined criterion. Therefore, the center server 30 can make theuser grasp the accommodation situation of the object accommodated in thetrunk of the vehicle 10A which is the delivery destination of thevehicle cabin delivery service and, for example, do action such astaking out the delivered package or unnecessary object from the trunk ofthe vehicle 10A.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a third example of thetrunk accommodation situation notification processing by the centerserver 30.

Since processing of steps S502 to S508 is the same as the processing ofsteps S402 to S408 of FIG. 4 , description thereof will be omitted.

In step S508, when the accommodation amount of the trunk of the vehicle10A exceeds the predetermined criterion, the accommodation amountdetermination unit 3209 proceeds to step S510.

In step S510, the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210transmits the additional delivery unavailability notification to themobile terminal 20 of the requester via the communication processingunit 3201, similar to step S410 in FIG. 10 . Further, the trunkaccommodation situation notification unit 3210 (an example of a deliverywork procedure change unit) transmits, to the mobile terminal 20 of therequester in the same manner via the communication processing unit 3201,the notification prompting the request of the procedure change regardingthe deliver work of the package for which the trunk of the vehicle 10Ais designated as the delivery destination (the delivery work procedurechange request) to the delivery company. In this case, the trunkaccommodation situation notification unit 3210 may transmit theadditional delivery unavailability notification and the delivery workprocedure change request as one piece of information at one time, or mayseparately transmit at different timings. The procedure change regardingthe delivery work of the package includes at least one of a suspensionof the delivery work of the package, a delivery destination change ofthe package, and a delivery date and time change (that is, a request fora redelivery after changing the date and time) or the like. Accordingly,in a situation where the probability is high that the package cannot bedelivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A, the center server 30 canprompt the user of the vehicle cabin delivery service to request theprocedure change regarding the delivery work of the package such as thetemporary suspension of the delivery work of the package that is atarget.

The delivery work procedure change request may include information thatspecifies all packages yet to be delivered for which the trunk of thevehicle 10A is designated as the delivery destination. Accordingly, thecenter server 30 can make the user grasp all the packages yet to bedelivered and the user can perform the procedure change regarding thedelivery work of all the packages yet to be delivered without fail.

Further, the delivery work procedure change request may serve as thecontrol signal that directly causes the display 24 of the mobileterminal 20 (mobile terminal 20Aa or mobile terminal 20Ab) of the userof the vehicle cabin delivery service, to display the website for theprocedure change regarding the delivery work of the package (forexample, the delivery site) or the window or screen of the predeterminedapplication program (for example, the key application) that links to thewebsite. For example, the delivery work procedure change request maycontrol the key application, and cause a web page that requests theprocedure change regarding the delivery work for the delivery site onthe browser in the key application (a change request page), or thescreen that is provided exclusively as the screen in the key applicationand links to the change request page (the change request screen), to bedisplayed. Accordingly, the user does not need to perform themanipulation of causing the display 24 of the mobile terminal 20 todisplay the delivery site or the like, or to perform manipulation tostart the key application or the like that links to the delivery site.Therefore, the center server 30 can improve the user's convenience andas a result, it is possible for the user to prompt the procedure changeregarding the delivery work of the package.

The transmission destination of the delivery work procedure changerequest may be a terminal other than the mobile terminal 20 used by therequester (for example, a computer terminal such as a desktop type or alaptop type). In this case, instead of the change request screen, thewindow of the predetermined application program (change request window)that links to the change request page may be displayed on the display ofthe terminal. Further, as described above, the delivery work procedurechange request may be transmitted to the email address or thepredetermined SNS account of the user of the vehicle cabin deliveryservice. Further, in the display device such as the display of theterminal used by the user, the delivery work procedure change requestmay include the link information by the URL scheme for causing thewebsite for the procedure change regarding the delivery work of thepackage (for example, the delivery site) or the window or screen of thepredetermined application program that links to the website, to bedisplayed.

Since processing of step S512 is the same as the processing of step S412in FIG. 10 , description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the example, when the accommodation amount of theobject accommodated in the trunk of the vehicle 10A designated as thedelivery destination of the package exceeds the predetermined criterion,the center server 30 notifies the user to request the delivery companyto change the procedure regarding the delivery work of the package (forexample, redelivery after the change of the delivery date and time).Accordingly, in a situation where the probability is high that theadditional package cannot be delivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A,the center server 30 can make the user request the delivery company tochange the procedure regarding the delivery work of the package.Therefore, center server 30 can reduce the inefficient delivery work orthe like in which the deliverer heads for the vehicle 10A for thedelivery despite the situation where the probability is high that theadditional package cannot be delivered to trunk of the vehicle 10A, andto improve the work efficiency in the vehicle cabin delivery service.

Either or both of the processing of FIG. 9 and processing of FIG. 10 orFIG. 11 may be executed.

Operation

In the embodiment, the trunk accommodation situation informationacquisition unit 3208 acquires the information on the accommodationsituation of the object accommodated in the vehicle cabin (trunk) of thevehicle 10A that can be designated as the delivery destination of thepackage. Based on the trunk accommodation situation information acquiredby the trunk accommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208,the trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210 notifies theuser of the accommodation situation of the object accommodated in thevehicle cabin (trunk) of the vehicle 10A.

Accordingly, based on the information on the accommodation situation ofthe vehicle cabin in the vehicle 10A which is the delivery destinationof the acquired package, the center server 30 or the delivery managementserver 50 (hereinafter referred to as the “center server 30 or thelike”, for the convenience) can notify the user of the accommodationsituation of the object accommodated in the vehicle cabin in the vehicle10A. Therefore, the center server 30 can make the user grasp theaccommodation situation of the object accommodated on the inside of thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A which is the delivery destination ofthe package.

Further, in the embodiment, the trunk accommodation situationinformation acquisition unit 3208 acquires the capture image inside thevehicle cabin (trunk) which is captured at the time of the delivery ofthe package by the mobile terminal 20 which is carried by the delivererof the package and is equipped with the imaging function. The trunkaccommodation situation notification unit 3210 transmits the acquiredcapture image of the package in the vehicle cabin (trunk) at the time ofthe delivery to the user's predetermined terminal (for example, themobile terminal 20Aa, 20Ab), the user's email address or the user'spredetermined SNS account via the communication processing unit 3201.

Accordingly, the center server 30 or the like transmits the acquiredcapture image inside the vehicle cabin captured by the mobile terminal20Ac of the deliverer at the time of the delivery of the package to theuser's terminal or the like, and thus it is possible to make the userspecifically grasp the accommodation situation of the objectaccommodated inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A. Therefore, thecenter server 30 or the like can make the user grasp whether the packagescheduled to be delivered is in a deliverable situation, the package isactually delivered, or the like, by the capture image at the time of thedelivery, for example.

Further, in the embodiment, when the capture image has been acquiredfrom the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer, the trunk accommodationsituation notification unit 3210 transmits the package deliverycompletion notification to the user's predetermined terminal, the user'semail address or the user's predetermined SNS account via thecommunication processing unit 3201.

Accordingly, the center server 30 or the like can recognize the deliverycompletion of the package by acquiring the capture image captured by themobile terminal 20 of the deliverer at the time of the delivery.Therefore, for example, the deliverer does not need to performadditional work of providing the notification of merely the deliverycompletion from the mobile terminal 20Ac to the center server 30 or thelike, on top of the work of capturing the image inside the vehicle cabinat the time of the delivery completion. Therefore, the center server 30or the like can notify the user of the delivery completion whilereducing work burden on the deliverer at the time of the delivery.

Further, in the embodiment, based on the information acquired by thetrunk accommodation situation information acquisition unit 3208, theaccommodation amount determination unit 3209 determines whetheraccommodation amount of the object accommodated in the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10A exceeds the predetermined the criterion. When theaccommodation amount determination unit 3209 determines that theaccommodation amount exceeds the predetermined criterion, the trunkaccommodation situation notification unit 3210 provides the notificationof the determination result to the user's predetermined terminal, theuser's email address or the user's predetermined SNS account.

Accordingly, when the accommodation amount of the object accommodated onthe inside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A as the deliverydestination of the package exceeds the predetermined criterion such thatthe accommodation of an additional package is difficult, for example,the center server 30 or the like can notify the user of thedetermination result. Therefore, the center server 30 or the like canmake the user grasp whether the package scheduled to be delivered is inthe deliverable situation or the like, depending on a presence orabsence of the notification, for example.

Further, in the embodiment, when the accommodation amount determinationunit 3209 determines that the accommodation amount exceeds thepredetermined criterion, via the communication processing unit 3201,trunk accommodation situation notification unit 3210 provides thenotification to the user's predetermined terminal, the user's emailaddress or the user's predetermined SNS account such that at least aprocedure change regarding the delivery work of the package is requestedto the delivery company, the change including the temporary suspensionof the delivery work of the package yet to be delivered, the redeliveryof the package yet to be delivered at the date and time different fromthe date and time currently set, and the change of the deliverydestination of the package yet to be delivered.

Accordingly, when the accommodation amount of the object accommodated onthe inside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A as the deliverydestination of the package exceeds the predetermined criterion such thatthe accommodation of the additional package is difficult, for example,the center server 30 or the like can make the user request the procedurechange regarding the delivery work of the package such as the temporarysuspension of the delivery work of the package or the like to thedelivery company. Therefore, the center server 30 or the like makes itless likely for the deliverer to head for the vehicle 10A or the like,in a situation where the package cannot be accommodated inside thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A. Therefore, even in the situation wherethe additional package cannot be delivered to the inside of the vehiclecabin of the vehicle 10A designated as the delivery destination of thepackage, the center server 30 or the like can improve an efficiency ofthe delivery work.

Further, in the embodiment, the trunk accommodation situationnotification unit 3210 transmits the notification to the user'spredetermined terminal (for example, the mobile terminal 20Aa, 20Ab) tocause the display device (the display 24) of the terminal to display thewebsite for the procedure change regarding the package delivery work orthe window of the application program that links to the website and isinstalled in the terminal which is used by the user (including thescreen exclusively displayed on the display of the smartphone or thelike).

Accordingly, the center server 30 or the like can cause the user'sterminal (for example, the smartphone) to display the website for theprocedure change regarding the delivery work of the package such as thetemporary suspension of the delivery work of the package on thepredetermined browser. Further, the center server 30 or the like canactivate the application capable of change manipulation of the procedureand cause the window for the specific change manipulation to bedisplayed. Therefore, the center server 30 or the like can make the userspecifically request the procedure change regarding the delivery work ofthe package to the delivery company.

Further, in the embodiment, the trunk accommodation situationnotification unit 3210 provides, to the user's email address or theuser's predetermined SNS account via the communication processing unit3201, the notification including the link information for causing thedisplay device of a terminal in use which is used by the user to displaythe website for the procedure change regarding the package delivery workor the window of the application program that links to the website andis installed in the terminal in use.

The center server 30 or the like can cause the user's terminal in use(for example, a computer terminal such as a tablet terminal type or alaptop type) to display the website for the procedure change regardingthe delivery work of the package such as the temporary suspension of thedelivery work of the package on the predetermined browser. Further, thecenter server 30 or the like can activate the application capable ofchanging the procedure and cause the window for the specific changemanipulation to be displayed. Therefore, the center server 30 or thelike can make the user specifically request the procedure changeregarding the delivery work of the package to the delivery company.

Further, in the embodiment, trunk accommodation situation notificationunit 3210 transmits the notification including the information forspecifying all the packages yet to be delivered in which the vehiclecabin (trunk) of the vehicle 10A is designated as the deliverydestination to the user's predetermined terminal, the user's emailaddress or the user's predetermined SNS account.

The center server 30 or the like can make the user request the procedurechange regarding the delivery work of the package to the deliverycompany with respect to all the packages scheduled to be delivered, forwhich the inside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A is designatedas the delivery destination, without being limited to a specifiedpackage.

Further, in the embodiment, the trunk accommodation situationinformation acquisition unit 3208 acquires the capture image inside thevehicle cabin (trunk) which is captured at the time of the delivery ofthe package by the mobile terminal 20Ac which is carried by thedeliverer of the package and is equipped with the imaging function(camera 25). Further, the trunk accommodation situation informationacquisition unit 3208 acquires detection information which is outputfrom the sensor equipped in the vehicle cabin (trunk), and is related tothe accommodation situation of the object accommodated in the vehiclecabin (trunk).

Accordingly, the center server 30 or the like can specifically grasp theaccommodation amount of the object accommodated inside the vehicle cabinof the vehicle 10A or the like from the capture image of the vehiclecabin captured by the mobile terminal 20 of the deliverer at the time ofthe delivery of the package, or the detection information output fromthe sensor provided inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A (forexample, the camera).

Further, in the embodiment, the trunk accommodation situationinformation acquisition unit 3208 acquires the information on therequest history of the package requested with the inside of the vehiclecabin of the vehicle 10A as the delivery destination.

Accordingly, the center server 30 or the like can estimate theaccommodation amount of the object currently accommodated inside thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A, from the request frequency in thelatest predetermined period, for example. Therefore, the center server30 or the like specifically grasp the accommodation amount of the objectaccommodated inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A or the like,based on the request history of the package requested with the inside ofthe vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A as the delivery destination.

Further, in the embodiment, the trunk accommodation situationinformation acquisition unit 3208 acquires the information on the user'sopening history of the door that allows the access to the vehicle cabinof the vehicle 10A.

Accordingly, the center server 30 or the like can estimate theaccommodation amount of the object currently accommodated inside thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A, by grasping of the number of thedelivered package or the like after a user's final opening of the doorthat allows the access to the inside of the vehicle cabin based on therequest history of the package in the latest predetermined period, andthe user's opening history of the door that allows the access to theinside of the vehicle cabin, for example. Further, the center server 30or the like can take the account of a package which is assumed to havebeen taken out from the inside of the vehicle cabin. Accordingly, thecenter server 30 or the like can grasp the accommodation amount of theobject accommodated inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A in thespecific and more precise manner, based on the user's unlocking historyof the door that allows the access to the inside of the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10A in addition to the request history of the packagerequested with the inside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A as thedelivery destination.

Further, in the embodiment, the processing device 23 of the mobileterminal 20Ac that is carried by the deliverer of the delivery companywhich operates the delivery service in which the inside of the vehiclecabin of the vehicle 10A (trunk) used by the user can be designated asthe delivery destination of the package and that is equipped with theimaging function (the camera 25) executes a predetermined method ofacquiring the image inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A(hereinafter referred to as an “acquisition method of an image inside avehicle cabin”). Specifically, the acquisition method of an image insidea vehicle cabin includes an imaging step of imaging the inside of thevehicle cabin (the trunk) by the deliverer using the imaging function(the camera 25) at the time of the delivery of the package, which iscaused by the imaging unit 2310, and a transmitting step oftransmitting, to the predetermined external device (the center server30, the delivery management server 50, or the like), the capturedcapture image inside the vehicle cabin (the trunk).

Accordingly, the acquisition method of an image inside a vehicle cabincan cause the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer to capture the imageinside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A and, for example, totransmit the image to the server of the delivery company (the deliverymanagement server 50) or the server of a support company (the centerserver 30) that supports the operation of the vehicle cabin deliveryservice such as distributing the key information for unlocking thevehicle 10A. Therefore, the delivery company, the support company, orthe like can provide the user with the image inside the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10A at the time of the delivery. Therefore, the acquisitionmethod of an image inside a vehicle cabin can make the user grasp theaccommodation situation of the object accommodated on the inside of thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A which is the delivery destination ofthe package, via the server or the like of the delivery company.

Further, in the embodiment, in the acquisition method of an image insidea vehicle cabin, an image transmission unit 3211 transmits the captureimage inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A at the time of thedelivery to the external device that manages the information on thevehicle 10A (that is, the center server 30) in the transmitting step.

Accordingly, the acquisition method of an image inside a vehicle cabincan cause the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer, for example, totransmit the capture image inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10Ato the external device that manages the information on the vehicle 10A(the center server 30) such as the key information for the deliverycompany to unlock the vehicle 10A at the time of the delivery or theposition information of the vehicle 10A, that is, the external deviceoperated by the support company. Therefore, the acquisition method of animage inside a vehicle cabin can avoid a situation where the image ofthe inside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A which is a user'sprivate space is provided to the delivery company. Therefore, theacquisition method of an image inside a vehicle cabin can make the usergrasp the accommodation situation of the object accommodated on theinside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A which is the deliverydestination of the package while paying attention to the user's privacy.

Further, in the embodiment, in the acquisition method of an image insidea vehicle cabin includes a deleting step of deleting the capture imagein the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer when the capture image hasbeen transmitted to the external device in the transmitting step, whichis caused by an image deletion unit 3212.

Accordingly, the acquisition method of an image inside a vehicle cabincan cause the mobile terminal 20 to delete the capture image inside thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A transmitted to the predeterminedexternal device (the center server 30 or the delivery management server50 or the like). Therefore, the acquisition method of an image inside avehicle cabin can avoid the situation where the image of the inside ofthe vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A which is the user's private spaceremains in the mobile terminal 20 of the deliverer. Therefore, theacquisition method of an image inside a vehicle cabin can make the usergrasp the accommodation situation of the object accommodated on theinside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A which is the deliverydestination of the package while paying attention to the user's privacy.

The embodiments for carrying out the disclosure have been described indetail above, but the disclosure is not limited to the specificembodiments as described above, and various modifications and changescan be performed without departing from the gist of the disclosuredescribed in the claims.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the mobile terminal 20transmits the authentication request including the authentication key tothe key unit 12, and the key unit 12 performs exchange of signals withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to anauthentication result based on the authentication key. Therefore, thelocking and unlocking of the doors of the vehicle 10A by the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 and the activation of the vehicle 10Aare realized, but the disclosure is not limited to the above aspect.

Specifically, a configuration in which the function of the key unit 12is transferred to the mobile terminal 20, and the mobile terminal 20performs exchange of signals based on the above described keyinformation (the internal key information) with the vehicle 10 (thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11) using the LF radio wavesand the RF radio waves such that the locking and unlocking of the doorsof the vehicle 10A and the activation of the vehicle 10A by the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 are realized may be adopted. In thiscase, the “authentication key” of the embodiment described above may beread as the “key information”. In other words, the center server 30 mayissue the key information instead of the authentication key anddistribute the key information to the mobile terminal 20 in the samemethod as in the authentication key in the above described embodiment.Accordingly, the same operation and effects as those of the abovedescribed embodiment can be obtained.

The functions of the key unit 12 may be integrated with the locking,unlocking and activation device 11, and a configuration regardingcommunication between the locking, unlocking and activation device 11and the key unit 12 and authentication related to the communication (theLF radio wave transmitter 111, the RF radio wave receiver 112, thecollating ECU 113, the LF radio wave receiver 121, and the RF radio wavetransmitter 122) may be omitted. In this case, when the authenticationof the mobile terminal 20 based on the authentication key has beensuccessful, the key ECU 124 may directly output an unlocking command ora locking command and an activation command to each of the body ECU 114and the engine ECU 116 instead of the collating ECU 113, and performlocking and unlocking the doors of the vehicle 10 and activation of thevehicle 10. Accordingly, the same operation and effects as those of theabove described embodiment can be obtained.

Further, in the above described embodiment and modification example, thetarget of the locking and unlocking by the transmission signal (theauthentication request or the like) transmitted from the mobile terminalis the vehicle (the door), but the disclosure is not limited to theabove embodiment. The vehicle (the door) in the above describedembodiment and modification example may be replaced with a building or afacility (a door thereof) used by a user such as the home, the secondhome, a conference room, or the like.

Specifically, the vehicle cabin delivery service, the vehicle cabinpick-up service, or the vehicle cabin recovery service may besubstituted by the delivery service, pick-up service, or the recoveryservice in which the inside of the building (for example, the home orthe privately owned second home) or the facility (for example, therental second home, the conference room, or the like) used by user canbe designated as the delivery destination, the pick-up point, or therecovery point of the package or the article. In this case, the term“inside of the facility” means a place where an entrance from an outsideis prevented by the locking of the above facility, and may include notonly the inside of the building in the facility but also a place of aninside of a relatively high outer wall which borders the facility, theinside being provided with no roof.

More specifically, even when the inside of the building or the facilityused by the user is designated as the delivery destination, the mobileterminal of the deliverer may perform the same processing as in FIGS. 7and 8 . Further, the server that operates delivery services or theserver that supports the delivery service by the distribution of theauthentication key for the locking and unlocking of the predetermineddoor of the building or the facility or the like may perform the sameprocessing as in FIG. 9 to 11 . Accordingly, it is possible for the userto grasp the accommodation situation of the object accommodated inbuilding and the facility, and is possible to obtain the same operationand effect as in the above described embodiment and modificationexample, for example.

Further, the B2C car sharing service may be substituted by a B2C sharingservice that rents out the facility which is owned by a company or anorganization and is available for a plurality of users in different timeslots (for example, the rental second home, the conference room,gymnasium or the like). Accordingly, the facility which is owned by thecompany or the organization and is available for the users in thedifferent time slots can be shared among the ordinary consumers.

Further, the C2C car sharing service may be substituted by a C2C sharingservice that supports the rental of a part as a room or all of the homeor the second home which is privately owned between individuals.Accordingly, a part or all of the home or the second home which isprivately owned can be shared between individuals.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing device configured toperform an operation of a delivery service in which an inside of avehicle used by a user is designated as a delivery destination of apackage, or perform a support of the operation, the informationprocessing device comprising: a server including a plurality offunctional units realized by executing one or more programs stored inmemory of the server, the plurality of functional units including aninformation acquisition unit, an accommodation amount determinationunit, and a delivery work procedure change unit, wherein: theinformation acquisition unit is configured to acquire information on anaccommodation situation of a package accommodated inside the vehicle;the accommodation amount determination unit is configured to determinewhether or not an accommodation amount of the package accommodatedinside of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined criterion based on theinformation acquired by the information acquisition unit; the deliverywork procedure change unit is configured to provide a notification, whenthe accommodation amount determination unit determines that theaccommodation amount exceeds the predetermined criterion, to a user'spredetermined terminal, a user's email address, or a user'spredetermined social networking service account such that at least aprocedure change regarding a delivery work of the package is requestedto a delivery service company, the change including a temporarysuspension of the delivery work of the package yet to be delivered, aredelivery of the package yet to be delivered at a date and timedifferent from a date and time currently set, and a change of thedelivery destination of the package yet to be delivered; and thedelivery work procedure change unit is configured to provide, to thepredetermined terminal, the email address, or the user's predeterminedsocial networking service account, a notification including informationspecifying all packages yet to be delivered, for which the inside of thevehicle is designated as the delivery destination, and wherein whenunlocking the inside of the vehicle, a mobile terminal of a deliverer iscaused to transmit to a key electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehiclean unlock request including an authentication key and informationdesignating only unlocking the inside of the vehicle, the mobileterminal of the deliverer is authenticated by the key ECU based on theauthentication key delivered with the unlock request, the key ECU iscaused to transmit to a body ECU of the vehicle an unlock signal, thebody ECU is caused to output a control command to cause a door lockmotor of the vehicle to only unlock the inside of the vehicle.
 2. Theinformation processing device according to claim 1, the server furthercomprising a delivery completion notification unit configured to providea notification of a delivery completion of the package to thepredetermined terminal, the email address, or the user's predeterminedsocial networking service account, when a capture image is acquired. 3.The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein thedelivery work procedure change unit is configured to cause a displaydevice of the predetermined terminal to display a website for theprocedure change or a window of an application program which links tothe website and is installed in the predetermined terminal, by thenotification to the predetermined terminal.
 4. The informationprocessing device according to claim 1, wherein the delivery workprocedure change unit is configured to provide, to the email address orthe user's predetermined social networking service account, anotification including link information for causing a display device ofa terminal in use which is used by the user to display a website for theprocedure change or a window of an application program which links tothe website and is installed in the terminal in use.
 5. The informationprocessing device according to claim 1, wherein the delivery workprocedure change unit is configured to provide, to the predeterminedterminal, the email address, or the user's predetermined socialnetworking service account, a notification including informationspecifying all packages yet to be delivered, for which the inside of thevehicle is designated as the delivery destination.
 6. The informationprocessing device according to claim 1, wherein the informationacquisition unit is configured to acquire, from the mobile terminal thatis carried by a deliverer of the package and is equipped with an imagingfunction, a capture image of the inside of the vehicle captured at atime of delivery of the package, or detection information on theaccommodation amount output from a sensor provided inside the vehicle.7. The image processing method according to claim 6, wherein the captureimage is transmitted to an external device that manages information onthe vehicle by the transmitting.
 8. The image processing methodaccording to claim 6, further comprising deleting the capture image inthe mobile terminal, when the capture image has been transmitted to anexternal device by the transmitting.
 9. The information processingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit isconfigured to acquire information on a user's opening history of a doorthat allows access to the inside of the vehicle.
 10. An informationprocessing method executed by an information processing deviceconfigured to perform an operation of a delivery service in which aninside of a vehicle used by a user is designated as a deliverydestination of a package, or perform a support of the operation, theinformation processing method comprising: providing a server including aplurality of functional units realized by executing one or more programsstored in memory of the server, the plurality of functional unitsincluding an information acquisition unit, an accommodation amountdetermination unit, and a delivery work procedure change unit; acquiringinformation on an accommodation situation of a package accommodated withthe inside of the vehicle; determining whether or not an accommodationamount of the package accommodated inside of the vehicle exceeds apredetermined criterion based on the information acquired; providing anotification, when it is determined that the accommodation amountexceeds the predetermined criterion, to a user's predetermined terminal,a user's email address, or a user's predetermined social networkingservice account such that at least a procedure change regarding adelivery work of the package is requested to a delivery service company,the change including a temporary suspension of the delivery work of thepackage yet to be delivered, a redelivery of the package yet to bedelivered at a date and time different from a date and time currentlyset, and a change of the delivery destination of the package yet to bedelivered; and providing, to the predetermined terminal, the emailaddress, or the user's predetermined social networking service account,a notification including information specifying all packages yet to bedelivered, for which the inside of the vehicle is designated as thedelivery destination, and wherein when unlocking the inside of thevehicle, a mobile terminal of a deliverer is caused to transmit to a keyelectronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle an unlock request includingan authentication key and information designating only unlocking theinside of the vehicle, the mobile terminal of the deliverer isauthenticated by the key ECU based on the authentication key deliveredwith the unlock request, the key ECU is caused to transmit to a body ECUof the vehicle an unlock signal, the body ECU is caused to output acontrol command to cause a door lock motor of the vehicle to only unlockthe inside of the vehicle.
 11. The information processing methodaccording to claim 10, further comprising providing a notification of adelivery completion of the package to the predetermined terminal, theemail address, or the user's predetermined social networking serviceaccount, when the capture image is acquired.
 12. The informationprocessing method according to claim 10, further comprising causing adisplay device of the predetermined terminal to display a website forthe procedure change or a window of an application program which linksto the website and is installed in the predetermined terminal, by thenotification to the predetermined terminal.
 13. The informationprocessing method according to claim 10, further comprising providing,to the email address or the user's predetermined social networkingservice account, a notification including link information for causing adisplay device of a terminal in use which is used by the user to displaya website for the procedure change or a window of an application programwhich links to the website and is installed in the terminal in use. 14.The information processing method according to claim 10, furthercomprising providing, to the predetermined terminal, the email address,or the user's predetermined social networking service account, anotification including information specifying all packages yet to bedelivered, for which the inside of the vehicle is designated as thedelivery destination.
 15. The information processing method according toclaim 10, wherein the information is acquired from the mobile terminalthat is carried by a deliverer of the package and is equipped with animaging function, a capture image of the inside of the vehicle capturedat a time of delivery of the package, or detection information on theaccommodation amount output from a sensor provided inside the vehicle.16. The image processing method according to claim 15, wherein thecapture image is transmitted to an external device that managesinformation on the vehicle by the transmitting.
 17. The image processingmethod according to claim 15, further comprising deleting the captureimage in the mobile terminal, when the capture image has beentransmitted to an external device by the transmitting.
 18. Theinformation processing method according to claim 10, wherein theinformation is acquired on a user's opening history of a door thatallows access to the inside of the vehicle.
 19. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing an information processingprogram causing an information processing device to execute a process,the information processing device being configured to perform anoperation of a delivery service in which an inside of a vehicle used bya user is designated as a delivery destination of a package, or performa support of the operation, the information processing devicecomprising: a server including a plurality of functional units realizedby executing one or more programs stored in memory of the server, theplurality of functional units including an information acquisition unit,an accommodation amount determination unit, and a delivery workprocedure change unit, wherein the process comprising: acquiringinformation on an accommodation situation of a package accommodated withthe inside of the vehicle; determining whether or not an accommodationamount of the package accommodated inside of the vehicle exceeds apredetermined criterion based on the information acquired; providing anotification, when it is determined that the accommodation amountexceeds the predetermined criterion, to a user's predetermined terminal,a user's email address, or a user's predetermined social networkingservice account such that at least a procedure change regarding adelivery work of the package is requested to a delivery service company,the change including a temporary suspension of the delivery work of thepackage yet to be delivered, a redelivery of the package yet to bedelivered at a date and time different from a date and time currentlyset, and a change of the delivery destination of the package yet to bedelivered; and providing, to the predetermined terminal, the emailaddress, or the user's predetermined social networking service account,a notification including information specifying all packages yet to bedelivered, for which the inside of the vehicle is designated as thedelivery destination, and wherein when unlocking the inside of thevehicle, a mobile terminal of a deliverer is caused to transmit to a keyelectronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle an unlock request includingan authentication key and information designating only unlocking theinside of the vehicle, the mobile terminal of the deliverer isauthenticated by the key ECU based on the authentication key deliveredwith the unlock request, the key ECU is caused to transmit to a body ECUof the vehicle an unlock signal, the body ECU is caused to output acontrol command to cause a door lock motor of the vehicle to only unlockthe inside of the vehicle.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 19, the process further comprisingacquiring, from the mobile terminal that is carried by a deliverer ofthe package and is equipped with an imaging function, a capture image ofthe inside of the vehicle captured at a time of delivery of the package,or detection information on the accommodation amount output from asensor provided inside the vehicle.